UGBOR, GLORIA NGOZI - University of Nigeria, Nsukka GLORIA... · 2015-09-16 · 1 determinants of errors in written igbo composition in primary schools in nsukka local government

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DETERMINANTS OF ERRORS IN WRITTEN IGBO COMPOSITION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NSUKKA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF

ENUGU STATE

BY

UGBOR, GLORIA NGOZI PG/M.ED/07/42639

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

FEBRUARY, 2009.

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TITLE PAGE

DETERMINANTS OF ERRORS IN WRITTEN IGBO COMPOSITION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NSUKKA

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE

A PROJECT REPORT PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION

(IGBO)

BY

UGBOR GLORIA NGOZI PG/M.ED/07/42639

FEBRUARY, 2009.

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APPROVAL PAGE

THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR THE

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF

NIGERIA, NSUKKA

BY

------------------------------ ------------------------------ DR UJU UMO SUPERVISOR INTERNAL EXAMINER ---------------------------- ------------------------------ DR. UJU UMO EXTERNAL EXAMINER HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

------------------------------------- PROF. G. C. OFFORMA

DEAN OF FACULTY

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CERTIFICATION

Ugbor Gloria Ngozi, a postgraduate student in the

department of Arts Education and with the registration number

PG/MED/07/42639 has satisfactorily completed the requirement

for course and research work for the degree of masters of

Education in language Education. The work embodied in this

project is original and has not been submitted in part or full for

any other diploma or degree of this or any other university.

--------------------------------- -------------------------------

Student Dr. Uju Umoh

Ugbor Gloria Ngozi Supervisor

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DEDICATION

This project is dedicated to my beloved husband, Mr.

Cletus Ugbor for his encouragement and support and to my

beloved children. Nnaemeka, Amarachi, Chidera Kelechi and my

sister Nwadi who is always by my side.

Finally, my dedication goes to Almighty God, who gave me

strength and courage to pursue and finish this work.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My greatest thanks go to the Almighty Father, the Alpha and Omega,

the beginner and finisher who kept me alive and crowned my efforts in this

programme with success.

I humbly wish to express my gratitude to Dr. B.N Mbah, Dr. P. N.

Uzoegwu, Dr. (Mrs) E. N. Oluikpe, and Dr. Akabogu for the help and co-

operation given to me throughout the duration of this programme. I am

particularly indebted to my kind and industrious project supervisor Dr. Uju

Umoh who always handled my problems with great concern and

commitment.

My immense appreciation also goes to all my relations and friends

who in various ways assisted me to ensure that the programme is

successfully completed. To all those who helped me to obtain materials for

this research project, and to all my academic colleagues, I am very

grateful.

I am deeply indepted to my dear husband, Mr. Ugbor Cletus for his

encouragement and financial support. I also greatly acknowledge and

appreciate the co-operation given to me throughout the duration of the

programme by my beloved children Kelechi, Nnaemeka, Amara, Chidera

and my beloved sister Nwadi.

Ugbor Gloria Ngozi

FEBRUARY, 2009. TABLE OF CONTENTS

7 Title page ……………………………………………………………..i

Table of Contents ….. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

List of table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 1

Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 14

Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . .. . 15

Significance of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 15

Scope of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . 18

Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . 18

Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . 19

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Conceptual Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Theoretical Framework . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Empirical Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Summary of Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 34

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD

8 Design of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . … . . 35

Area of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . … . . . . 36

Population of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. 36

Sample and Sampling Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Instrument for Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 38

Validation of the Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 39

Method of Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Method of Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . … 40

CHAPTER FOUR

Data Presentation and Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

CHAPTER FIVE

Discussions of findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 76

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . … . . . . . … 84

APPENDICES

LIST OF TABLES

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Table 1: Percentage (%) Responses on Error Types . . . . . . . 43

Table 2: Percentage (%) Responses on the extent of

Mechanical Errors Committed by Primary School

Urban and Rural Pupils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Table 3: Percentage (%) Response on the extent of

Expressional Errors Committed by Urban and

Rural Pupils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Table 4: Percentage (%) Responses on the Extent of

Mechanical Errors Committed by Male and Female

Primary School Pupils . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 47

Table 5: Percentage (%) Responses on the Extent of

Expressional Errors Committed by Male and Female

primary School Pupils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Table 6: Chi-square of Individual Errors within the Mechanical

and Expressional types by Location . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 50

Table 7: Chi-square of individual Errors within the Mechanical

and Expressional types by Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Table 8: Observed and Expected Frequency of Mechanical

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Errors in written Igbo Composition of Primary six Urban

and Rural Pupils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Table 9: Observed and Expected Frequency of Expressional

Errors in Written Igbo Composition of Primary six Urban

and Rural Pupils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Table 10: Observed and Expected Frequency of Mechanical

Errors Committed by Male and Female Pupils in

Written Igbo Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 57

Table 11: Observed and Expected Frequency of Expressional

Errors Committed by Male and Female Pupils in

Written Igbo Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

table 12: Total Linguistic Errors Based on Gender and Location 60

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A: Edemede Igbo

Appendix B: ihe nwata akw�kw� kwes�r� �ma

na edemede a (instruction)

Appendix C: Marking scheme

Appendix D: ihe at�r�anya, �m�akw�kw�

Ga-agbado �kw� wee dee edemede nke �b�la

Appendix E: Computer print out

Appendix F: Computer print out

Appendix G: Pupils score for test of

reliability

Appendix H: N par test – Kendall’s W test

Appendix I: List of all the state primary

schools in Nsukka local government areas and the

population of primary six pupils in the schools

Appendix J: List of schools used for

the study

Appendix K: A detailed categorization of

error

Appendix L: Written and marked Igbo

composition

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ABSTRACT

This research is an ex-post facto aimed at establishing

relationship between errors and some factors as a causative agent.

The researcher looked at determinants of errors in written Igbo

composition. The researcher work specifically went into identifying,

analyzing and describing the mechanical and expressional errors

primary school pupils make in written Igbo composition. The result of

the study may direct the attention of Igbo teachers to the specific

errors identified, thereby saving time on the teaching task and

ensuring a greater level of understanding of the concept.

The data collected with written work was analysed with chi-

square (x2) test statistics for the hypotheses that was tested.

a. There was no significant difference in the kind of error made in

written Igbo composition

b. Rural pupils made more errors than the urban pupils

c. Male pupils made more errors than their female counterparts.

Suggestions were made with regards to what can be done to

minimize the pupils errors in their written work. The findings shows

that the types of errors committed by pupils in written Igbo

composition are

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1. Mechanical and expressional errors.

2. Rural primary pupils commit more mechanical errors than their

urban counterparts.

3. Males recorded more mechanical errors than females.

The educational implications of the study were presented. The

researcher based on the findings recommended that

(a) use error analysis as a teaching procedure

(b) Seminars, workshops, conferences should be organized for the

pupils at classroom level to improve the learning and use of

Igbo language.

(c) Use of teaching aids in classroom instruction

(d) Devotion of time to teaching Igbo mechanics

(e) Development of positive attitude to the study of Igbo language

by parents among others. All the above should be taken

cognizance of to avoid the occurrence of the problems as

investigated.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The effectiveness of any educational system relies, upon the

achievement of educational goals. Going by this, the educational

system that operates in a given society is aimed at attaining proper

development of the learner and the community where the school is

located (Ogbonnaya, 2003). The primary medium of any educational

programme is language. According to Hasen (2001), language is the

vehicle for the implementation of the curriculum of a given society in

the classroom setting. It is when the language used is known and

understood by the learners and the teachers that the content of the

educational programme can be made more meaningful, practicable

and relevant.

One of the broad aims of the primary school education is to

expose the pupils to all areas of studies, including the development of

language and culture. The Igbo language is very vital to the mental

development of the Igbo child. It helps the pupils to be fluent in

speaking as well as writing the Igbo language. It makes for the ability

to criticize oneself and also to look at things critically. It is important to

15 note that pupils who read more, think better and argue more

intelligently. Yule (2002) states that “one of the functions of language

is to interact”. It is language that beings use to interact with each

other socially or emotionally, indicate friendliness, cooperation,

hostility, annoyance, pain, or pleasure. This means that if a child is

acquainted with his language, he would be able to interact easily with

his fellow human beings. Nwadike (2008) emphasizes that “a society

without language is like that without culture”. Language and culture

are inseparable and to separate a child from his language at the early

stages of his school education is to make him have no regard for his

culture. It is important to start at early stage to expose a child to his

language in order to make him cope with the societal demands. In

further recognition of this fact, the International Institute of Africa

Languages and Culture (ILLAC) (1998) states that for the first three

years in school, the medium of instruction should be principally the

mother tongue. The rationale for this decision, according to ILLAC, is

that language and mind work together and where a child cannot

speak his mother tongue, such a child is bound to do most of his

thinking in a foreign language. For the purpose of promoting unity and

progress in Nigeria, the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) made it

16 compulsory that every Nigerian should learn his or her mother tongue

in addition to one other recognized language in Nigeria. This policy

accorded Nigerian languages, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, important

place in the school curriculum. In fact, there are reasonable

speculations to the effect that if seriously taught in the school system,

one of them will eventually emerge as a national language without

government imposing it on the nation.

Though recognized and recommended, it is observed that Igbo

language is neglected. Many people shun it and it does not receive

the desired attention in our society and in schools. It is observed that

the elites embrace English and treat their language with contempt. In

schools, the language (Igbo) is not allotted enough time in the school

timetable; instead, the English language is given more attention and

is also used as a medium of instruction. No wonder the English

language in Nigeria is taken as the yardstick for measuring literacy

and even determining when the standard of education is rising or

falling. English language enjoys the premier position of being the

compulsory subject in the West African school certificate

examination. For this reason, many educated Nigerians assume that

there is nothing worthy of studying in Nigeria language, culture,

17 history and art. The negative attitude of the people towards the Igbo

language is not limited to the learners and teachers alone but it cuts

across all segments of the society. Students of the language at higher

institutions are called Igbo B. K. To compound the neglect, the

parental negative attitude also affects the achievement level of the

pupils in schools (Okoye, 2003). Another problem is that majority of

the Igbo text books are written in the English language and this brings

confusion to the pupils. At the primary school level, the teachers are

expected to teach all the subjects in the school including the Igbo

language. This particular policy does not take cognizance of the area

of specialization of the teacher. For instance, a primary school

teacher who studied physics in higher institution is expected to teach

Igbo language in his/her school. Due to the fact that it is not his/her

area of study, he will not impart to pupils the knowledge that is

required of him.

Apart from this handicap, the importance of the Igbo language

in the development of our culture cannot be over emphasized. The

Igbo language studies in the primary school incorporate such areas

as grammar of the language, written and oral literature, traditions and

institutions. All these are taught and learnt as one subject in the

18 primary school. The objective of this policy at this lower level of

education is to expose them to all the realizations of the Igbo

language necessary. The primary school pupils study their mother

tongue in order to equip them to cope with the demands of their

native language.

There are complex problems encountered by the Nigerian

learner of Igbo. Ugwu (2004) observes that there is always deviance

when there is a contact between the mother tongue and variety. This

means that the learner has to grapple with both inter-language and

intra language difficulties. Inter-language, is the contact of two

different languages while intra-language, is the linguistics

idiosyncrasies of a given language that can cause learning problems.

Other problems associated with the study of the Igbo language are

dialectal interference and the gender view of the subject. For example

in central Igbo an elephant is called Ele but due to dialectal

differences, some people call it Ene and some Ere. All the

aforementioned problems depict the level of errors committed by

pupils in the written Igbo composition hence, the low achievement

level on pupils continuous assessment. Another problem of Nigerian

learner of Igbo is the mixture of Igbo and English (code-switching);

19 and the standard Igbo dialect (written Igbo). It does appear that the

case or flexibility with which the Nigerian Igbo grapple with the

language codes and levels in the same utterance or piece of writing is

the root of Igbo language learning difficulties.

The report on the achievement of pupils in the Igbo composition

in their continuous assessment shows that most of the pupils could

not write in Standard Igbo. They wrote their dialect and this made it

difficult for the examiners to understand what they have written. While

some pupils wrote their essays in English instead of Igbo, others

mixed up both English and Igbo. This shows that many of them have

not yet mastered the use of Standard Igbo. It is pertinent at this

juncture to know the determinants of errors in written Igbo

composition in primary schools.

According to Corder (2004) errors are deviances caused by

lack of competence. Errors are not mostly self-correctable instead

further learning must take place before they are correctable. Errors in

the written Igbo composition refer to deviances caused by lack of

competence on the Igbo language generally. Odlin (2006) states that

errors are important evidence for the strength and weakness of a

particular native language influence. Written work is a particular

20 weakness for primary school learners in Nigeria. One significant

cause of the under achievement may possibly be the lack of

knowledge in writing the Igbo language. Join (2005) in Chomsky

(2007) defined error by differentiating between competence and

performance. Mistakes are performance related deviances which can

occur as a result of factors external to the competence of the

speaker, such as tiredness or lack of concentration. These mistakes

are due to a failure to utilize a known system correctly (Brown, 2001).

By implication errors are deviances caused by a lack of competence

systematic and noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a

native speaker (Corder, 2004). This simply means that pupils commit

errors due to lack of knowledge on the language but during the

process of writing, the mistake that may occur is not due to lack of

knowledge but as a result of external factors. These errors made by

primary school pupils in the written Igbo composition may be overt or

covert, which shows outright lack of competence. Some of the errors,

usually made by primary school pupils may be spelling or punctuation

error. Spelling errors include omission/wrong use of diacritic mark,

omission/wrong use of pronoun etc. Errors according to Abonyi

(2007) are those deviations that are systematic in nature. Errors are

21 deviances resulting from ignorance and can be classified as

grammatical errors, spelling, punctuation/structural, lexical and

mechanical errors as earlier stated.

All these errors are dictated by certain factors which may be

social or cognitive. The determinants of errors refer to what decides

what or how errors are committed. In other words, determinants of

errors are causes of error. The determinants of errors are social and

cognitive factors. Both social and cognitive factors affect language

acquisition and learning. According to Ellis (2004), research based on

direct (self-report questionnaires) and indirect measures generally

shows that learners with positive attitudes, motivation and concrete

goals will have these attitudes reinforced if they experience success.

Like wise, learner’s negative attitude may be strengthened by lack of

success or by failure. McGroarty (2000) states that there is a direct

relationship between learner attitudes and learner motivation.

Gardner’s (2005) socio-educational model is designed to account for

the role of social factors in language acquisition. It interrelates four

aspects of learning: the social and cultural Millieu (which determines

beliefs about language and culture), individual learner differences

(related to motivation and language aptitude), the setting (formal

22 and/or informal learning contexts, and learning integrative. Integrative

learning of written Igbo composition involves a desire to learn

because individuals need to learn the target language to integrate

into the community.

Going by this, the achievement level of primary school pupils in

written Igbo composition is a function of their attitude, motivations and

the goals, which they seek to attain. Precisely, the social factors, as

determinants of errors committed by primary school pupils in written

Igbo composition comprises negative attitudes towards the learning

of the language, continued lack of progress in learning, a wide school

and psychological distance between the learners and what is taught

and finally, lack of integrative and instrumental motivation for

learning.

Another determinant of errors in written Igbo composition is

cognitive factors. Academic writing is believed to be cognitively

complex. Acquisition of academic vocabulary and discourse style is

particularly difficult. According to cognitive theory, communicating

orally or in writing is an active progress of skill development and

radial elimination of errors as the learner internalizes the language.

Indeed, acquisition is a product of the complex interaction of the

23 linguistic environment and the learner internal mechanisms. If the

amount of lessons which the learners are exposed to is stressful, it

negatively affects their skill in writing Igbo composition. Emotional

influences along with cognitive factors can account for achievement

of pupils in composition writing in Igbo language.

The behaviourist and mentalist perspectives of error,

emphasized on the product, (the error itself) while the constructivist

views, focus on underlying process (why the error is made). Errors

may be identified by hypothesizing their possible sources

(Bartholomae 2003) as it affects the achievement of primary school

pupils in written Igbo composition.

There are 4 skills in language acquisition and learning. They

are listening, speaking, reading and writing. What determines the

error one commits in writing is cognitive and social factors.

Writing is higher order skill in language learning which requires

thinking and problem solving ability. This skill can only be acquired

through practice since language learning involves a series of habit

formation. Writing can be defined as a communication process. This

simply shows that writing is a means through which a person

expresses his or her inner self to someone else. In support of the

24 above, Hasen (2008) states that human beings have a deep need to

represent their experience through writing. Writing is a productive skill

in language use. Writing is a dialogue between the writer and the

reader and so the substance of what is written must, when it reaches

the reader, say what the writer intends to say as clearly as if the

writer were there in person.

One cannot overlook the saying that clarity in writing is of

primary importance as an effective means of communication. In

support of this, Shrunk and White (2008) state that since writing is

communication, clarity can only be a virtue. And if the aim of writing is

to deliver the message of the writer in clear and unmistakable terms,

then, non-clarity might impede communication. This implies that if the

writer could not convey in written form his ideas, then his aim of

writing is fruitless. It is this error that tells the teacher the areas pupils

have problem with regard to writing. This knowledge will make the

teacher adopt means and ways of helping the pupils solve this

problem thereby achieving the objectives of writing composition and

the Igbo language in general.

Composition is an act of creatively putting down all one has

internalized in a language like his ideas, feelings, opinions,

25 observations, logically concerning a particular thing so that the

intention of the writer will be conveyed to the reader (Abonyi 2007).

Igbo composition is an aspect of the Igbo language study,

which involves the use of the Igbo language in a skillful manner to

explain or present clearly one’s ideas concerning a particular thing,

which can be an event, festival, objects, culture, or any other thing at

all. There are many types of Igbo composition namely: descriptive,

narrative, argumentative, or expository composition. However,

considering the level and ability of the pupils, the researcher tends to

use descriptive composition in testing them, since it is something they

will look at and at the same time be able to express themselves about

the object.

According to Okeke (2007), in his research work carried out in

Ezeagu L.G.A, the incidence of poor spelling and punctuation errors

persists among the students while writing Igbo composition. He

further states that more than 95% of the students in Enugu State

scored no mark out of 15 for mechanical accuracy in the Igbo

composition in their SSCE of 2008. This present study will be carried

out using primary six pupils. Whether these problems will manifest in

the course of this research is not yet determined.

26 Gender has been pointed out as a variable that plays an

important role in learning. In line with this, Uzoegwu (2004) quoting

UNICEF, gender refers to the varied socially and culturally

constructed roles, qualities, behaviour and so on that are ascribed to

women and men of different societies. This implies that the roles and

expectations of the male and female are defined by societies and

cultures. He also notes that gender comes into play in writing

composition if we remember that personal orientation and thinking

styles play a crucial role in achievement. For instance, Kilosmeir

(2006) opines that in terms of the performance of boys and girls in

thinking task, the females have a general tendency to think in

negative ways about the task in which they engage. Offorma (2004)

states that girls have more flair for language than boys and therefore,

perform better than their male counterparts in writing Igbo

composition.

The location of a school is also an important variable in

learning. Primary schools in Nigeria are located in both the urban and

rural areas, and the location of a school determines the type of

facilities, quality of personnel and classroom organization that are

used in the course of teaching and learning; all these affect the

27 schools and these have effect on the achievement of pupils in Igbo

language and indirectly in writing Igbo composition. According to

Umoh (2000), the intellectual development of children that pass

through a school is dependent on location. The present study hinges

on the determinants of errors in written Igbo composition in primary

school and it will examine location as important variable.

Statement of the Problem

The achievement of primary school pupils in Igbo composition

is very discouraging. The pupils failure in Igbo composition is due to

different types of errors which they commit and this hinges on certain

determinants of errors. Due to that, the percentage of errors

committed is very high and disturbing and this calls for a long lasting

solution which is the baseline of this research study. What are these

errors that derail the achievement of primary school pupils in Igbo

composition? How are they determined? The researcher is therefore

interested in investigating the determinants of errors in written Igbo

composition in primary school.

28 Purpose of the Study

This research work is intended to find out the determinants of

errors in written Igbo composition in primary school. The study will

look at the mechanical and expressional errors committed by pupils in

written Igbo composition.

In specific terms the study strives to:

1. Identity the pupils Errors in written Igbo composition

2. Compare the errors in urban and rural primary school pupils in

written Igbo composition

3. Find out the type of error committed by the male and female

primary school pupils in written Igbo composition.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will be useful to the government and

school administrators, curriculum planners, teachers Igbo writers.

The result of this study may enable the government and school

administrators to provide man and material resources for meaningful

implementation of the ideas of the new basic education policy in

Nigeria as it affects the language of instruction that influences

significantly early childhood development/education and as well as

29 check the quality of teachers they employ. All this should be done

through workshops, conferences and seminar organized by the

Government for the purpose.

The results of this study could provide useful information to

curriculum planners on the need to make the Igbo language a

compulsory subject throughout the primary school levels. This may

help curriculum planners to take cognizance of the fact that the

education of the child is rooted in the culture of the society, which the

child comes from. This will be done through workshops and seminars.

The findings of this study may enable the teachers to extend

the implementation of the language policy, which concerns the use of

mother tongue or language of the immediate environment as a

medium of instruction in school from the first three years to the sixth

year of primary education. This will increase the level of the

professional growth of the teachers during sensitization activities

through seminars or conferences on the need to adopt the findings of

this research study. This will as well expose teachers to the current

trends in Igbo language.

The findings of this study will also enable the authors of the

Igbo language and literature books in Igbo to realize that the they

30 should no other language than Igbo in writing Igbo text books to

ensure effective learning and understanding by pupils in schools. For

instance, the Igbo textbooks on language and literature are supposed

to be written in standard Igbo only and not in dialect or in any other

language like English, Hausa. This will be done through a programme

designed by the stakeholders involved in the education industry to

educate them on the need to write texts in the language of the

learner.

The result may help the pupils through the seminars, worshop

or conferences organized for the primary school teachers based on

this research study. This is because the teacher will impart the

knowledge learnt from it to the learners on the written igbo

composition based on central Igbo and not dialect. This will go a long

way in enhancing their cognitive development since one thinks faster

in the language he is conversant with. The enhancement of the pupil

cognitive development will enable the pupils to carry out co-ordinate

order and even higher order learning tasks under the cognitive

domain of educational objectives as well as gaining proficiency in the

Igbo language. The pupils will acquire this knowledge through

evening lessons as well as school debate organized by schools.

31 Teacher training colleges may also benefit from the results of

the study because this research work would suggest a programme of

training and re-training of teachers in the use of Nigerian languages

such as the Igbo language in the teaching and learning of the other

school subjects. Also existing language training facilities may need to

be addressed to accommodate the various aspects of language

learning, which would in turn create room for good performance in

such subjects. This will be done through workshops and seminars.

Scope of the Study

The study is restricted to Nsukka Local Government Area in

Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State. The focus of the study is on

determinants of errors in written Igbo composition in primary schools.

It will examine the frequency of errors committed by pupils with

regards to gender, school location as essential variables for the

academic achievement.

[

Research Questions

The following research questions will guide the study.

1. What are the errors committed by primary school pupils in

written Igbo composition?

32

2. What are the comparative analysis of the errors committed by

urban and rural primary school pupils?

3. What type of errors are committed more by male and female

primary school pupils in written Igbo composition?

Hypotheses

Ho1 There is no significant difference between the frequencies of

mechanical and expressional errors committed by urban and

rural primary school pupils in written Igbo composition.

Ho2 There is no significant difference between the frequencies of

mechanical and expressional errors committed by male and

female primary school pupils in written Igbo composition.

33

CHAPTER TWO

Review of Related Literature

The review of literature is done under the following headings.

1. Conceptual framework

2. Theoretical framework

3. Empirical studies

4. Summary

Conceptual Framework

Concept of Determinant of Errors

According to Corder (2004) the determinants of errors is a

systematic process of looking at those factors that cause error. The

determinants of errors refers to what decides whether or how errors

are committed. He states that the major determinants of error in

written Igbo composition are classified into two factors namely social

and cognitive factors.

Social Factors: Here the negative attitude and socio-economic

background of the pupil come into play. The society as a whole

including the teachers have negative attitude towards the learning of

34 Igbo. The outcome of it is that Igbo as a school subject does not

receive the desired attention which it is supposed to. In the first place,

rich parents train their children from birth with English language and

can never buy any Igbo textbook for them since they do not want

them to speak Igbo. Corder states that the result of this attitude is

interference in the course of writing Igbo, which might be interlingual

or intralingual and this invariably affects their achievement in Igbo

composition writing. Those children from poor families train their own

children with their dialects and this as well affects them in writing Igbo

at school. For this reasons, when the pupils writes the Igbo

composition, there is a lot of interference/language transfer as well as

dialectal influence which affects the pupil achievement.

Cognitive Factor: The non-professional issue on the Igbo language

teaching as well as linguistic tools are considered in this area.

Nesmer (2005) in support of this states that the environment one

finds himself or herself determines how one develops his/her

cognitive system concerning all the skills that are involved in

language acquisition and learning. Ugwu (2005) states that the

teaching of Igbo language as a subject in primary schools by non-

professionals seems to be the major determinant of errors in Igbo

35 composition. There is an Igbo adage which says that “ihe onye nwere

ka o na-enye “meaning you give out what you have”. The most

outstanding problem is that in the primary school system, the

teachers are obliged to teach all the subjects in the pupils’ time table

which it is obvious that one teacher cannot be competent on all the

subjects involved. In this case non-professional teachers of Igbo do

not know the subject matter very well which would have enable them

to know the rudiments which the pupils require to know, some of the

teachers do not know the standard Onwu orthography that is used in

writing Igbo and this is the basic knowledge every Igbo

students/pupils will have in order to attain success. So these non-

professionals are bound to transfer wrong knowledge to the pupils

and this in turn causes error in their writing. Errors that occur as a

result of this is called pedagogic errors.

According to Yule (2002), there is need for linguistic tools for a

language teaching programme to be successful whether in the first

language or in the second language situation. The availability of this

audio-visual aids in the language laboratory in teaching and learning

of any language to equip the pupils with the required knowledge that

are needed. In support of this Umo (2002) states that, schools that

are located where there is no equipment, the teaching of the Igbo

36 language is always a problematic issue and they are bound to commit

errors in their writings.

Concept of Error

Corder (2004) explains that errors are systematic and are

noticeable deviation from the standard grammar of a native speaker.

Errors are deviances caused by lack of competence. Errors are not

mostly self-correctable, perhaps further learning must take place

before they are correctable. Corder (2004) differentiates errors from

mistakes, using Chomsky’s competence and performance. Corder

(2004) asserts that mistakes are performance-related deviances,

which can occur as a result of factors external to the competence of

the speaker or writer such as tiredness or lack of concentration.

Brown (2002) regards mistakes as “slips” and adds that they

are quickly and easily self-correctable. Ellis (2002) agrees that errors

reflect the intra language and inter-language competence of the

learner. He further categorize deviances thus.

Over extension of analogy

Transfer of structure

Interlingual &

Intralingual errors

Competence errors

Slips, lapses

Attempts

Performance mistakes

Deviances

Second order mistakes

First order mistakes

Intralingual

Unique

Transfer

37

Deviances can be errors or mistakes.

When the deviances are caused by lack of

competence, it is an error. In order words, errors

are deviances that are not self-correctable and

further learning must take place before correction

can take place. When the deviances are performance-related,

it is a mistake, hence the student can correct himself/herself.

Slips are errors in performance, which are easily and

quickly self corrected by the producer without having

them pointed out. These can be self corrected if

pointed out. There are two classifications of mistake:

First-order mistakes (m1) can be self-corrected

if an indication is given that there is a deviance in a

sentence. Second-order mistakes (m2) can be corrected

if the exact location (the word or the phrase is made

clear to the producer in the sentence. Inter language-is

a separate linguistic system which a learner possesses

and it is identical to neither to the L1 of the learner, nor

the norms of the (TL) target language the learner is in

the process of learning (Selinder, 2003).

Nesmer (2005) refers to IL as an approximative system which is

the deviant linguistic system actually employed by the learner

attempting to utilize the target language. Corder (2002) regards IL as

idiosyncratic dialect similar to those of infants and poets.

According to Coder (2004) he asserts that error can be Covert

when it is grammatical but not a representation of the context being

38 expressed. Example Anya d� g� n’ elu this means: you live above your

standard. Error is overt when it is ungrammatical in comparison to

standard English as the learner possibly over-generalized a rule.

Example Nye m akw�kw• m(s) this means give me my books.

Coder (2004) went further to explain over extension of analogy

and transfer of structure. He asserts that over extension of analogy

occur when there is similarity between in form in the learner’s Li and

the target language, However the two form have different meanings

and transfer of structure occurs when a learner transfers aspects of

the L1 rather than use those of the TL, example give me my oche m.

Classification of Error

According to Abonyi (2007) errors are generally classified into

two, namely, mechanical and expressional or errors.

Mechanical errors are the errors which occur due to the

learner’s inability to adhere to the rubrics of the language: Examples

of mechanical errors are wrong use of diacritic marks (.), wrong use

of apostrophe ‘c,2’, wrong use of hyphen (-), wrong use of tones;

Expressional errors concerns with how the learner expresses his

ideas. Some of the examples are wrong use of preposition, wrong

paragraphing, wrong use of idioms etc.

39 Teaching and Learning of Igbo Composition in Primary School

According to Richard (2005) composition is the writing down of

one’s ideas or feelings concerning a particular thing in a logical

manner so that the intention of the writer is conveyed to the reader.

Igbo composition is an aspect of the Igbo language study, which

involves the use of the Igbo language in a skillful manner to explain or

present clearly one’s ideas or feelings concerning a particular thing,

which can be an event, festival, objects, culture or anything at all.

Uzoegwu (2004) states that in all aspect of language learning,

composition is the most beneficial to the learner. Both phonological

and grammatical rules are learnt in it, so that the learner learns to

write correctly without ambiguity. Due to its importance in one’s life,

pupils should be properly exposed to written compositions in the Igbo

language by the teacher for them to write effectively and as well

develop interest in studying Igbo at the higher level.

However, it is disheartening to observe that quite a number of

the Igbo language pupils cannot write good compositions in the Igbo

language, despite the fact that composition is inevitable at that stage

(in continuous assessment). Abonyi, (2007) researched on the error

analysis of secondary school students in written Igbo composition.

40 The researcher asserts that most of the student errors as

grammatical errors and wrong use of punctuation marks and calls for

more emphasis by the teacher on this aspect of the Igbo language

study. By ‘knowing the determinants of errors, its causes and effects,

the primary school pupil will commit little or no error in writing Igbo

composition.

Despite the above findings, the present researcher feels that

the first step in solving the pupil’s problem in written Igbo composition

is by finding, out those factors, which are the key determinants of

errors and at the same time offering solution to those factors. If this is

done, it will help to sustain the pupils interest in the Igbo language as

a whole and precisely help to increase the level of their achievement

in Igbo composition in their continuous assessment.

Theoretical Framework Theories of Determinants of Errors and Error

Several theories on errors have been put forward by experts to

convey what determines error. The theory of error determinants are

routed from what causes errors in written Igbo compositions.

Prominent among these theories includes the “bread half talks” on

41 teaching composition” model by Alfred Hitcheck (Turner 2001). The

center of this theory is that errors in written composition are caused

by the inability of the teacher to understand the content of what is

taught to the learner. By this, primary school pupils are prone to

committing errors because of the inability of the teacher to impact the

knowledge to the learner. This particular case is evidenced in written

Igbo composition by the pupils. The knowledge of the subject mater

by the teacher influences the proficiency of the learners in writing. In

was of the above, Lucile (2001), asserts that this theory/model

involves three basic steps – rapid inventory of content, diagnosis and

prescription. There steps helps the learners to have an enduring

memory on what is taught. The teachers that lack there qualities run

the risk of community errors that drastically affects the students

positive progress. This condition is also evidenced in writing Igbo

composition.

Another theory of determining error is the cognitive model. This

was proposed by Berater and Turner, (2003). According to this

model, the errors committed in writing composition are two-pronged –

knowledge-telling model and knowledge transforming model. The

knowledge – telling model depends on the process of retrieving

42 content from memory with regards to the topical issue. The

knowledge – transforming model on the other hand involves reflective

problem –solving, analysis and goals setting patterns that deals

directly with the errors that are committed by primary school pupils in

the written composition which is also manifested in written Igbo

composition. This theory is regarded as mental representative as a

writing strategy. The pupils of primary school commit errors in writing

the Igbo language composition if this skill is not developed by them.

There seems to be a strong tendency on the part of many

teachers of composition to neglect the consideration of content and

the predisposition and to over emphasise the faults. According to Ida

Javel (2004). The lack of knowledge of the basic structure of writing

composition influences the performance of pupils. The content

organization and form of writing composition remains paramount and

lack of it attracts errors on the part of the pupils. The teacher in the

classroom should take cognizance of the content, form and

organization of Igbo composition to reduce errors committed by

primary school pupils.

Another theory of error determinants is transfer theory. This theory is

in line with the constructivist theory. Schwartz (2006) asserts that in

43 full transfer or full access model the learner will rely on his or her

entire first language when initial learning starts. Gradually, the learner

will replace aspects of his representation of the target language,

he/she determines which aspects of the foreign language are

different from his/her native language. This is done to cross-linguistic

influence. James (2007) assert that culture – specific nature of

schemata-abstract mental structures representing other knowledge of

things and situation leads to difficulty in writing composition. This

case is applied in writing Igbo composition. By implication, cross-

linguistic application is in itself a problem as errors are committed by

primary school pupils while writing the Igbo language composition.

Empirical Studies

The difficulties encountered by the pupils in Igbo written

composition is one of the areas which researchers have neglected

much. This neglect becomes more acute when it is realized that this

primary stage of education is the foundation for further learning and

also the key to the success or failure of the whole educational

system. Some studies have been carried out in error analysis in

English essay writing as well as in Yoruba language. Obioma (2004)

44 using both questionnaires and personal interviews carried out a

research in factors responsible for poor performance of secondary

school students in the English language, with particular references to

schools in Udenu local government area. He found out that

interference/language transfer is a major factor responsible for poor

performance of this students in the English language. This according

to him, is because out of six hundred (600) students used, one

hundred and two (102) of them were negative while four hundred and

eight eight (488) were positive to the research instrument used.

Whether interference will also result as a major source of errors in

this study is yet to be determined.

Onyia (2008) carried out a research entitled, “Problems of

teaching Igbo language in secondary school”. He made a survey of

his hypothetical problem in six selected secondary schools in Aniocha

Local Government Area of Anambra state. Using three separate

questionnaires and by systematic sampling, he investigated a sample

population of 20 students. The result of this investigation revealed

that there are four major problem areas, which include the issue of

gender interest in studying Igbo, lack of qualified teachers of Igbo,

lack of teaching aids, like language laboratory, scarcity of Igbo

45 textbooks and uncertainty of language orthography. All these

problems were confirmed and as it concerns gender interest, he

discovered that girls have more flair for language and therefore study

Igbo more than boys. His findings revolve around social and cognitive

factors as it affects errors committed by pupils in written Igbo

composition. According to Okorie (2004), in survey research on error

analysis in written Igbo composition of secondary school students in

Awgu educational zone of Enugu State the errors committed by

students in writing Igbo composition are attributed to cross-linguistic

application (Codeswitching). To accomplish the research, an essay

was given to 8 selected secondary schools in Awgu education zone.

The data collected from the source were analysed using frequency,

percentage and ratio, out of the errors analysed, the researcher

showed that spelling and punctuation errors were most serious. The

work shows that students write what they pronounced without any

modification. The researcher also made suggestions that will promote

interest in the study of Igbo language as a whole and the Igbo

language students in secondary schools and institutions of higher

learning in particular.

46 While Okorie conducted his study with the senior secondary

students, this present study will be carried out using primary school

pupils. The present researcher will go to an extent of finding out the

determinants of these errors that occur in written Igbo composition

and whether the types of problems discovered in the above study will

also occur in this present study is yet to be unveiled. The present

work which is based on determinants of errors is very much patterned

on the areas of comparison portrayed in this study.

Summary

Although a lot of studies have been carried out relating to

language, Onyia (2008) carried out a research on problems of

teaching Igbo in secondary school, Okorie (2004) conducted his

study on error analysis on written Igbo composition in secondary

school.

It is now pertinent to note that the systematic process of

looking at those factors that cause errors in written work will help the

researcher and other Igbo teachers to see how far the work conforms

with the grammar of the language. It is certain that the repeated

errors become confirmed and unless the learner is made aware of

them by giving him or her solid knowledge on that, he cannot learn

from them. Having emphasized the determinants of error, it is

imperative for all the Igbo language teachers to identify these errors

47 and devise a technique of eliminating the errors committed by pupils

in primary school.

Determinant of error is a positive source of information; it

provides an authentic profile of the learner at any given stage of the

language learning process. Determinant of error is an instrument for

both formative and summative evaluation of the learner and language

competence. Current trends in research focus on the learner in

language study, experts are growing more interested in the learners

errors as it will give a prelude to understanding the causes, and types

of errors which primary school pupils cannot while writing igbo

language composition these errors comprises cognitive and social

factors. The mentalist, behaviourist and the constructivist theories

were examined as they relate to errors committed primary school

pupils in written Igbo composition in the acquisition of listening,

speaking, reading and writing skills. This research study also

considered gender as location as it affects the performance of the

pupils in written igbo composition with the intention to reverse the

current trend.

48

CHAPTER THREE

Research Method

This chapter deals with the method and procedures the

researcher followed in the study. The following are discussed in this

chapter: design of the study, area of the study, population of the

study, sample and sampling technique, instrument for data collection,

validation of the instrument, reliability of the instrument, method of

data collection and method of data analysis.

Design of the Study

The design of this study is ex-post-facto research design. This

design seeks to establish cause –effect relationships but the

researcher has no control over the variables of interest and therefore

cannot manipulate them. The researcher only attempts to link some

already existing effects or observation to some variable(s) as

causative agent(s). In this case-socio economic factors, attitudes and

teachers areas of specialization are the determinants of error. Their

effect on Igbo composition with regard to location and gender are

49 already existing, in that the researcher cannot alter them but data

were collected from the existing structure

Area of the Study

The study was carried out in Nsukka Local Government Area in

Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State. Nsukka Education Zone is

made up of Igbo-Etiti, Nsukka, and Uzo-Uwani Local Government

areas of Enugu North senatorial District of Enugu State, Nigeria. The

rationale for selecting Nsukka L.G.A. is that it is made up of all Igbo

speaking tribe and the Igbo language is a compulsory subject at

primary school level. The Local Government has twenty nine (29)

public primary schools according to the Planning Research and

statistics unit of State Primary School Education Board (SPEB)

Nsukka 2009 (see Appendix I).

Population of the Study

The population for the study comprised all the primary six pupils

in public schools in Nsukka Local Government Area numbering two

thousand, four hundred and fifty one (2,451). The primary six pupils

were used because they have almost completed their primary

50 education and have spent more than five years in the primary school

system. They have participated in Igbo composition writing in class

and are expected to write good Igbo compositions, because they

have more experience in the skill of writing.

Sample and Sampling Technique

A simple random sampling technique were used for selecting

two hundred and forty (240) primary six pupils out of two thousand

four hundred and fifty one (2,451) pupils that make up the primary six

in Nsukka Local Government Area.

Out of twenty nine (29) primary schools in the Local

Government Area, six (6) schools were randomly selected. Three (3)

schools were selected from the rural area out of fourteen (14) while

three (3) schools were also selected from the urban area out of fifteen

(15).

Again one hundred and twenty (120) males and one hundred

and twenty (120) females were randomly selected from both rural and

urban schools respectively. The selection of urban and rural school is

based on the list according to the planning research and statistics

unit of state primary school Education Board (SPEB) Nsukka 2009.

51 On the whole two hundred and fourty (240) qualified pupils from

selected schools was used for the study.

Instrument for Data Collection

The instrument for data collection for this research was written

Igbo composition test for primary six pupils. The test was

administered to them by their teachers. The classroom teachers

wrote the topic on the chalkboard for the pupils to copy and write. The

two topics are:

1. “Onye nkuzi m”

2. �l� akw�kw� m

The pupils were given an option to write on only one of the

topics. The topic was written under 35 minutes under the supervision

of their classroom teachers in order to make them feel at home. The

length of the composition was one hundred (100) words, which will

conform with the normal class composition they do write in

continuous assessment in Igbo language.

52 Validation of the Instrument

To establish the validity of the instrument these procedures were

followed. The two composition topics were face validated by three

language educators in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and one

expert in measurement and evaluation. Besides, the topics were

presented to three experienced primary school teachers who

specialized in education Igbo and have taught for 12 years.

The validators were requested to ascertain and confirm the

appropriateness of the topics for the pupils and in conformity with the

level and standard of the pupils. This gave room for the modification

of the instrument used for the research study.

Reliability of the Instrument.

Inter-rater reliability was used to determine the reliability of the

instrument. A test was given to twenty (20) primary six pupils from

Central School Aku in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area which is

outside the area of study. The written compositions were given to four

(4) different raters to score, following the marking guide in Appendix

C. The researcher determined the estimate of internal consistency

using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W). This formula is mostly

53 applicable when more than two scorers/raters are involved (Nworgu

2006). The written Igbo composition for this study yielded a reliability

index of 0.78 (see Appendix H). This value is considered high and the

instrument was found reliable.

Method of Data Collection

The composition topics were copied on the chalkboard for the

pupils by the classroom teacher during the period for Igbo subject as

part of their normal class work. The pupils were asked to choose one

topic and write the composition on not more than one hundred (100)

words. The duration of the test was the normal period on the time

table of the school which is thirty five minutes (35 mins). The pupils

were supervised by their classroom teacher. The answer scripts were

collected and carefully marked by selected primary school teachers

who read Igbo using the marking scheme (see appendix C). At the

end of the marking the researcher was able to identify the errors

committed by the pupils.

54 Method of Data Analysis

The frequency of errors was determined and later converted into

percentage (%). This was used in answering research questions. For

the hypotheses, the chi-square was used to compare the various

types of errors between the male and female pupils, living in urban

and rural areas. Chi-square was calculated on single sample for the

individual errors and the contingency table for the groups of error

mechanical and expressional significance was ascertained beyond

0.05 level.

55

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION

This chapter deals with the presentation and interpretation of

the data collected. Errors were identified through a careful study and

marking of the test scripts of the sample pupils. These errors are

classified according to language areas with which the research

concerned itself. Thus, the pupils written composition are classified

into mechanical and expressional errors.

The various error classifications, their frequencies and

percentages are presented in tables. These tables are meant to show

at a glance their frequency count which will facilitate comparison of

the set of pupils; urban and rural and the male and female in two

linguistic skills tested.

Research Question 1

What are the errors committed by primary school pupils in

written Igbo composition?

Frequency table and percentage (%) responses on error type

56 Table 1

Errors Frequencies Percentages

Mechanical Errors

Spelling Errors

1. Omission/wrong use of diacritic mark (.) 130 4.4

2. Omission/wrong use of pronoun 115 3.9

3. Omission/wrong use of hyphen (-) 109 3.7

4. Omission/wrong use of apostrophe ( “ ) 143 4.8

5. Confusion from dialects over some

consonants (r/l)

6. Omission/wrong use of nasalised

consonants

131 4.4

7. Omission/wrong use of vowels 189 6.4

(ii) Punctuation Errors

8. Omission/wrong use of comma and other

punctuation marks

133 4.5

9. Omission/wrong use of full stop 161 5.4

10. Indiscriminate capitalization 136 4.6

11. Inconsistency in using either single or

double quotation mark (“ “)

(iii) Expressional Errors

12. Omission/wrong use of preposition 161 5.4

13. Wrong paragraphing 135 4.6

14. Omission/wrong use of tones 178 6.0

57 15. Omission/wrong use of idioms 155 5.2

16. Meaningless expression 123 4.2

17. Omission/wrong use of proverb 133 4.5

18. Error of tense 156 5.3

19. Wrong pluralization 134 4.5

20. Wrong coinage 138 4.7

21. Repetition 100 3.4

Grand Total 2963 100

The above table shows the type of errors in the two linguistic

areas of mechanic and expression. Under mechanical error,

omission/wrong use of vowels topped the list with 189 frequency

representing 6.4% of the total errors. This is followed by confusion

from dialects oversome consonants (r/l) recording 180 frequencies of

errors representing 6.1% while repetition under expressional errors

records the least frequency of 100 errors representing 3.4%.

Research Question 2

What are the comparative analyses of the errors committed by


58 Table 2

Percentage (%) responses on the extent of mechanical errors

committed by urban and rural primary school pupils.

A Mechanical Errors Urban Rural

Spelling Errors F % F %

1. Omission/wrong use of diacritic marks 55 42.31 105 67.69

2. Omission/wrong use of pronoun 60 52.17 55 47.83

3. Omission/wrong use of hyphen (-) 65 51.63 44 50.37

4. Omission/wrong use of apostrophe (“) 60 31.96 83 68.04

5. Confusion from dialect over some

consonant

38 28.00 122 72.00

6. Omission/wrong use of nasalized

consonants

41 21.30 90 68.70

7. Omission/wrong use of vowels 73 32.90 65 77.10

II Punctuation Errors

8. Omission/wrong use of comma and

other punctuation marks

58 33.61 92 56.39

9. Omission/wrong use of full stop for

sentence boundaries

78 38.45 83 61.55

10. Indiscriminate capitalization 64 37.06 72 62.94

11. Inconsistencies in using either single

on double quotation (“ “)

79 39.07 82 60.93

Total 523 35.00 983 65.00

59 Table 2 shows that rural primary school pupils recorded more

mechanical errors than urban pupils. Rural primary school pupils

have cumulative average of 65% while urban pupils recorded a

cumulative average of 35%.

Table 3:

Percentage (%) responses on the extent of expressional errors

committed by urban and rural primary school pupils.

Errors Urban Rural

B Expressional Errors F % F %

12. Omission/wrong use of preposition 45 16.59 42 33.41

13. Wrong paragraphing 50 22.96 46 27.04

14. Omission/wrong use of tones 48 31.44 44 20.56

15. Omission/wrong use of idioms 65 21.61 52 28.39

16. Meaningless expression 72 36.11 65 33.89

17. Omission/wrong use of proverb 70 52.63 61 77.37

18. Error of tense 63 59.65 58 20.38

19. Wrong pluralization 67 50.00 59 20.00

20. Wrong coinage 53 52.38 41 47.62

21. Repetition 50 59.35 45 23.65

Total 583 52.00 523 48

60 From this table urban primary school pupils recorded more

expressional errors than rural primary school pupils. Urban pupils

have a cumulative average percentage of 52% while rural primary

school pupils have a cumulative average of 48%.

Research Question 3

What type of errors are committed more by male and female

primary school pupils in written Igbo composition?

Table 4:

Percentage (%) responses on the extent of mechanical errors

committed by male and female primary school pupils.

Errors Male Female

a. Mechanical errors F % F %

1. Spelling errors

1. Omission/wrong use of diacritic

mark (.)

100 53.80 60 46.15

2. Omission/wrong use of pronoun 75 65.23 40 34.78

3. Omission/wrong use of hyphen (-) 61 55.96 48 44.04

4. Omission/wrong use of apostrophe 75 52.45 68 47.55

5. Confusion from dialect of some

consonants (r & l)

107 57.00 43 43.00

61 6. Omission/wrong use of nasalized

consonants

75 57.25 56 12.75

7. Wrong use of vowel 98 56.52 60 47.83

II Punctuation Errors

8. Omission/wrong use of comma and

other punctuation marks

93 54.89 60 45.11

9. Omission/wrong use of full stop 118 54.66 43 45.34

10. Indiscriminate capitalization 77 56.62 39 43.38

11. Inconsistency in using either double

or single quotation mark (“ “ “)

21 50.31 38 49.69

Total 980 65.00 526 35.00

From the table above, male tended to record more mechanical

errors than females. The male primary school pupils have a

cumulative average percentage of 65% while the female primary

school pupils have a cumulative of 35%.

62 Table 5

Percentage (%) responses on the extent of expressional errors

committed by male and female primary school pupil

Errors Male Female

B. Expressional Errors F % F %

12. Omission/wrong use of

preposition

48 47.15 65 52.85

13. Omission/wrong use of

paragraphing

54 47.41 71 52.59

14. Omission/wrong use of tones 38 59.26 48 55.06

15. Omission/wrong use of idioms 35 41.94 50 58.06

16. Meaningless expression 38 46.11 47 53.89

17. Omission/wrong use of proverbs 41 51.13 42 48.87

18. Errors of tense 37 42.95 49 57.05

19. Pluralization 39 57.46 47 42.54

20. Wrong coinage 71 48.15 98 51.83

21. Repetition 53 56.91 53 43.09

Total 446 4900 560 51.00

Table 5 shows that females recorded more expressional errors

than males with cumulative average, percentage of 51.00% and 49%

respectively.

63 Table 6: This table shows the observed and expected

frequencies of both mechanical and expressional

errors committed by male and female pupils living in

urban and rural areas. This table will be used in

testing the hypotheses formulated for this study.

Chi-square of individual errors within the mechanical and

expressional types by location.

Errors Urban Rural Total Cal x2 T.X2 Df Dec

Mechanical Error Fo Fe Fo Fe

Spelling Error

E1 55 65 105 65 130 6.71 3.84 1 NS

E2 60 57.5 55 57.5 115 4.02 S

E3 65 54.5 44 54.5 109 7.41 NS

E4 60 71.5 83 71.5 143 9.15 NS

E5 38 50 122 50 100 19.87 S

E6 41 65.5 140 65.5 131 40.36 S

E7 73 69 65 69 138 .91 S

Punctuation Error

E8 58 66.5 92 66.5 133 0.87 NS

E9 78 80.5 83 80.5 161 7.44 S

E10 64 68 72 68 136 6.08 S

E11 79 80.5 82 80.5 161 4.07 S

Expressional Error

E12 45 61.5 42 61.5 123 0.00 NS

E13 50 67.5 46 67.5 135 0.00 NS

64 E14 48 89 44 89 92 1.08 NS

E15 65 77.5 52 77.5 155 1.45 NS

E16 72 90 65 90 180 0.35 NS

E17 70 66.5 51 66.5 133 4.82 S

E18 63 78 68 78 156 6.48 S

E19 67 67 59 67 134 0.00 NS

E20 53 94.5 41 94.5 189 2.01 NS

E21 50 61.5 45 61.5 123 0.82 NS

Df – degree of freedom

S – significant beyond 0.05 levels

Ns – not significant

Cal x2 – calculated value of chi-square

Tx2 – table value of chi-square

Dec – decision

E – error

Table 6 shows chi-square of individual errors committed by

pupils living in urban and rural areas within expressional errors

Under mechanical error, errors 2,5,6,7,9,10 and 11 are

significant while errors, 1, 3, 4 and 8 are not significant. Within

mechanical errors under spelling (E6) which is omission/wrong use of

65 nasalised consonants has the highest cal. Value x2 with 40.36

followed by (E5) which is confusion from dialects over some

consonants with cal. Value of x2 as 19.874 and (E11) which is

inconsistency in using either single or double quotation mark under

punctuation which has the least cal. Value of x2 of 4.07. this means

that the pupils in rural areas committed more errors of spelling and

punctuation than pupils in urban areas.

Under expressional error, errors 17 and 18, 19, 20 and 21 are

insignificant. There is no difference at all between the errors

committed by both urban and rural pupils in E12, 13 and 17 and this

is because their various cal. Value is zero. The table shows that

urban primary school pupils committed more expressional errors than

pupils in the rural area.

Table 7

Chi-square of individual errors within the mechanical and

expressional types by genders.

Errors Frequencies Total Cal.x2 T.X2 Df Dec

Male Female

Mechanical Errors Fo Fe Fo Fe

66 Spelling Errors

E1 100 65 60 65 130 4.61 3.84 1 S

E2 75 57.5 40 57.5 115 0.45 1 NS

E3 61 54.5 48 54.5 109 4.84 S

E4 75 71.5 68 71.5 143 4.85 S

E5 107 50 43 50 100 6.16 S

E6 75 65.5 56 65.5 131 0.7 NS

E7 98 69 60 69 138 5.52 NS

Punctuation Errors

E8 93 66.5 63 66.5 133 3.85 S

E9 118 80.5 73 80.5 161 8.25 S

E10 77 68 59 68 136 5.50 S

E11 81 80.5 80 80.5 161 0.02 NS

Expressional Errors

E12 48 61.5 65 61.5 123 5.82 S

E13 54 67.5 64 67.5 135 4.83 S

E14 38 89 48 89 178 1.85 NS

E15 35 77.5 50 77.5 155 0.39 NS

E16 38 90 47 90 180 4.35 S

E17 41 66.5 42 66.5 133 0.15 NS

E18 37 78 49 78 156 2.86 NS

E19 39 67 47 67 134 0.76 NS

E20 71 94.5 91 94.5 189 4.22 S

E21 53 61.5 53 61.5 123 2.82 NS

67 Table 7 shows chi-square of individual errors committed by

male and female in the areas of mechanics and expression.

Under mechanical errors, errors 1,3,4,5,8,9, and 10 are

significant. Errors 9 which is omission or wrong use of full stop has

the highest cal. Value of 8.25 followed by E5 which is confusion from

dialect over some consonants which has cal. Value of 6.16 and E11

under puntuation which has the least cal. Value of 0.02. this shows

that male pupils committed more mechanical errors than females.

Under expressional errors, errors 12, 13,16 and 20 are significant

while errors 14,15,17,18,19 and 21 are not significant. The table also

shows that females recorded more expressional errors than male

pupils.

Hypotheses

Ho1 There is no significant difference between the frequencies

of mechanical and expressional errors committed by

urban and rural primary school pupils in written Igbo

composition.

68 Table 8

Observed and expected frequencies of mechanical errors

committed by urban and rural primary six pupils in written Igbo

composition.

Mechanical Errors Urban Rural Total

Errors Fo Fe Fo Fe

E1 55 65 105 65 130

E2 60 57.5 55 57.5 115

E3 65 54.5 44 54.5 109

E4 60 71.5 83 71.5 143

E5 38 50 122 50 100

E6 41 65.5 140 65.5 131

E7 73 69 65 69 138

E8 58 66.5 92 66.5 133

E9 78 80.5 83 80.5 161

E10 64 68 72 68 136

E11 79 80.5 82 80.5 161

Total 523 7285 983 7285 1506

Cal. X2 = 19.2

Table x2 = 18.3

Level of sig = 0.05

69 Degree of freedom 10

Decision: if the calculated value of x2 is greater than the table value of

x2, reject the null hypotheses. In this case, cal. Value of x2 is greater

than the table value of x2. hence hypotheses which states that there

is no significant difference between mechanical error committed by

urban and rural primary school pupil is rejected. There is a significant

difference between the mechanical errors committed by pupils living

in urban and rural areas.

Ho2 There is no significant difference between the frequencies

of expressional error committed by urban and rural

primary school pupils in written Igbo composition.

Table 9

Observed and expected frequencies of expressional errors in

written Igbo composition of urban and rural primary school

pupils.

Expressional Urban Rural Total

Errors Fo Fe Fo Fe

E12 45 61.5 42 61.5 123

E13 50 67.5 46 67.5 135

E14 48 89 44 89 178

E15 65 77.5 52 77.5 155

70

E16 72 90 65 90 180

E17 70 66.5 61 66.5 133

E18 63 78 58 78 156

E19 67 67 59 67 134

E20 53 94.5 41 94.5 189

E21 50 61.5 45 61.5 123

Total 583 3.00 523 3.00 1006

Cal. X2 = 11.92

Table x2 = 16.92

Level of sig. = 0.05

Degree of freedom = 9

Decision: the calculated value of x2 is less than the table value of x2

hence the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant

difference between expressional errors committed by urban and rural

primary school pupil is upheld. The difference between the

expressional errors of urban and rural pupil is not significant.

Ho3 There is no significant difference in the frequencies of

mechanical and expressional errors committed by male

and female primary school pupils in written Igbo

composition.

71 Table 10

Observed and expected frequencies of mechanical error

committed by male and female pupils in written Igbo composition.

Mechanical Errors Male Female Total

Spelling Errors Fo Fe Fo Fe

E1 100 65 60 65 130

E2 75 57.5 40 57.5 115

E3 61 54.5 48 54.5 109

E4 75 71.5 68 71.5 143

E5 107 50 43 50 100

E6 75 65.5 56 65.5 131

E7 98 69 60 69 138

Punctuation Error

E8 93 66.5 63 66.5 133

E9 118 80.5 73 80.5 161

E10 77 68 59 68 136

E11 81 80.5 80 80.5 161

Total 980 757.5 526 753.00 15.6

Cal. X2 = 20.1

Table x2 = 18.3

Level of sig. 0.05


72 Decision: if the cal. Value of x2 is greater than the table value of x2,

reject the null hypotheses.

In this case cal. Value of x2 is greater than the table value of x2.

hence hypotheses which states that there is no significant difference

between mechanical errors committed by male and female is

rejected. There is significant difference between the mechanical error

committed by male and female primary school pupils.

Ho4: There is no significant difference between the frequencies

of expressional errors in written Igbo composition by male

and female primary school pupils.

Table 11

Observed and expected frequencies of expressional errors

committed by male and females in written Igbo composition.

Expressional Errors Males Females Total

Errors Fo Fe Fo Fe

E12 48 61.5 65 61.5 123

E13 54 67.5 64 67.5 135

E14 38 89 48 89 178

E15 35 77.5 50 77.5 155

E16 38 90 47 90 180

73 E17 41 66.5 42 66.5 133

E18 37 78 49 78 156

E19 39 67 47 67 137

E20 71 94.5 91 94.5 189

E21 53 61.5 53 61.5 123

Total 194 446 512 560 1006

Cal. X2 = 4.64

Table x2 = 16.9

Level of sig. = 0.05


Decision: the cal. Value of x2 is less than the tables value of x2,

hence the null hypothesis which says that there is no significant

difference between the expressional errors of male and female

primary school pupils is upheld. The difference between the

expressional errors of urban and rural primary school pupils is not

significant.

Table 12

Total linguistic errors based on gender and location

Mechanic Errors Expressional Errors

F % F %

74 Urban 523 35 583 52

Rural 983 65 523 48

Total 500 100 1006 100

Male 980 65 446 49

Female 526 35 560 51

Total 1506 100 1006 100

Table summarizing frequency counts and percentage of the total

linguistic errors identified on the basis of gender and location to

facilitate comparison.

Results

The result shows the type of errors the pupils commits in the two

linguistics areas of mechanic and expression in the composition

writing.

The research question 1

What are the errors committed by primary school pupils in written

Igbo composition. The result shows that under mechanical errors

omission wrong use of vowel topped the list with 189 frequency

representing 6.4% of the total errors while repetition under

75 expressional errors records the least frequency of 100 errors

representing 3.4%.


What are the comparative analysis of the errors committees by urban

and rural primary school pupils? The result shows that primary school

pupils recorded more mechanical errors with cumulative average of

65% than the urban primary school pupils with cumulative average of

35%.


What types of errors are committed more by male and female primary

school pupils in written Igbo composition?

The result shows that male recorded more mechanical errors than the

female with cumulative average percentage of 65% and 35%

respectively. The result also shows that female pupils recorded more

expressional errors than the male with cumulative average

percentage of 51 and 49 respectively.

Summary

The identified error types seen in table (1) answers the

research question one. What are the errors committed by primary

76 school pupils in written Igbo composition? There are twenty one (21)

identified errors in written Igbo composition of primary school pupils.

Research Question Two:

What are the comparative analysis of the errors committed by


The study shows that rural pupils committed more mechanical

errors than the urban pupils with a cumulative average percentage of

65% while urban pupils have a cumulative average percentage of

35%. Further more urban pupils committed more errors in the area of

expression than the rural pupils with a cumulative average

percentage of 52% and 48% respectively. When tested there was a

significant difference in the errors committed by urban and rural

primary school pupils.

Research Question Three:

What type of errors are committed by male and female primary

school pupils in written Igbo composition?

This study shows that males committed more mechanical errors

than the female pupils with a cumulative average percentage of 65%

77 and 35% while females committed more errors in expression than

males with a cumulative average percentage of 51% and 49%

respectively.

This study also reveals that out of the four hypotheses tested Ho1

and Ho3 were rejected while Ho2 and Ho4 were upheld.

The study shows that the difference between mechanic error

committed by rural is significantly more than the mechanical error

committed by urban with calculated value of x2 19.2 and table value

of x2 as 3.84.

The study shows that male pupils committed more mechanical

error than female pupils with calculated x2 as 20.1 and table x2 as

18.3

78

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSIONS OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION,

RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUMMARY

In this chapter, the researcher’s attention is focused on the

discussion, conclusion, interpretation of results, educational

implication of the findings and summary.

Discussion

According to the findings mechanical errors ranks the first and it

is made up of spelling and punctuation errors. Spelling errors have

the frequency of 997 representing 33% while punctuation has the

frequency of 553 representing 19% of the total linguistic errors

discovered in the research.

As shown in table 1, omission/wrong use of vowels in spelling

recorded the highest frequency of 189 representing 6.4% of the total

errors followed by confusion from dialects over some consonants (r/l)

with the frequency of 180 representing 6.1% while repetition recorded

the least frequency of 100 representing 3.4% of the total error

identified.

79 A three stage procedure is involved in error analysis. The

stages are recognition, description and explanation. Recognition

which is the first stage has been treated in chapter four. The next two

phase description and explanation are the main aim of this

discussion.

Description

1. Spelling

(1) omission/wrong use of diacritic mark (.)

This diacritic mark is one of the most important feature in Igbo

spelling which is seen in the Igbo language orthography. Pupils often

forget to put the dot at the appropriate places and most often it is

omitted while writing. Example

Onye nkuzi m bu onye oruya doro

Anya nke oma

The underlined vowels are supposed to be dotted. In this study, this

problem recorded the frequency of 130 which represent 4.4% of the

total errors.

(2) Omission/wrong use of pronoun

80 This include the omission of pronoun or using pronoun wrongly

in a sentence. For example,

otoro ogologo

odi na okpuru ochichi obodo Nsuka

in this study, it represents 3.9% of the total errors.

(3) Omission/wrong use of hyphen

This is where hyphen is omitted or used wrongly, example

onye nkuzi anyi na akuziri anyi

akwukwo etu esi adi ocha

etu esi enye nsopuru

This is one of the errors that featured prominently in the study. It has

3.7% of the total errors.

(4) Omission/wrong use of apostrophe

This include all wrong use of apostrophe or complete omission

of it, example

ihe m ji hu ulo akwukwo

bu n oburu ibu ma on adi

ocha oge nile

This error has 4.8% of the total error

(5) Confusion from dialect of some consonants

81 This is where there is wrong spelling because of some

consonant, for example

onye nkuzi m bu onye Regos

ona alu olu ya nke oma ona enela anyi nke oma

This error occupies the 2nd position with 6.1%

(6) Omission/wrong use of consonants and nasals

This is where consonants and nasals are used wrongly or

completely omitted in a sentence, example.

Ukwu osisi di iche iche di n ulo

akwukwo m nke gunyere ukwu

udara mango kasu nke mere na ihe oriri bu biamu biamu na onu

This error has the frequency of 131 with 4.4% of the total errors.

(7) Omission/wrong use of vowels

This is the case where vowels are either omitted completely or

used wrongly to cause wrong spelling, example

ihem jire we hu onye nkuzi m

nanya naon akuzi ihe nkema

This has the highest frequency of 189 representing 6.4% of the total

errors

II. Punctuation

82 (8) Omission/wrong use of comma and other punctuation marks

This include the various marks in showing the relationship in

the sentence it includes comma, colon, exclamation mark and

question mark, example

ana ere ihe di iche iche

na ulo akwukwo m dika swit, chigomu

akwukwo pensil nkeneme ngoteihe n adi mfe.

This has 4.5% of the total errors

(9) Omission/wrong use of full stop for sentence boundaries

ana amutanukwu ihe m

ulo akwukwo ihe m

uloakwukwo muu

This error represents 5.4% of the total errors

(10) Indiscriminate capitalization

This is where letters are misused some big letters are used as

small letters while capital letters are written when small letters should

be used in the sentence, for example.

Abian ihe gbasara agumakwukwo

ulo akwukwo m mara iheha neme nke oma

This error type represents 4.6% of the total errors.

83 (11) Inconsistency in using either single or double quotation marks

(“ “)

This is where there is confusion in using the quotation mark, in

one sentence they either use single or double quotation mark in one

sentence

onye nkuzi muu di

“ocha ogologo na lenwu”

its percentage is 4.2%

(12) Omission/wrong use of preposition

This involves the use of “na”. It is when ‘na’ is omitted

completely or misused in a sentence, example

ulo akwukwo m di n nsuka

ma ndi nkuzi n umuakwukwo

no na ime ya n adi ocha

This error type represents 5.4% of the total errors

(13) Wrong paragraphing

There pupils were not writing in paragraphs. Rules observed

that writing essay were completely forgotten, example

aha onye nkuzi mu bu

ngozi ude o bu onye Rego

84 steti odi ogologomakwo mma

ona akuzi ihe nke oma o

mara mma nkeukwu

its percentage is 4.6% of the total errors

(14) Omission/wrong use of tones

Here words of the same spelling are not given their tones. In

some cases tones were omitted completely while some tones were

marked wrongly example.

Isi onye nkuzi m buru

Ibu ma agba ya tokwaa

Ogologo

This error type represent 6.0% of the total error

(15) Omission/wrong use of idioms

This is where idioms are not appropriately used or omitted

entirely example

umuakw�kwo na agba mbo

n’ ihe gbasara agu m akwukwo

na eguuregwu nke na onye

isi uloakwukwo nenye ndi

mere nke ome ngwungwu

85 nke a mere ka onye obula na

agbambo ime nke oma

na ihe awo adighi agba oso ehihe n’ efu

This featured more in boys schools. It has 5.2% of the total errors.

(16) Meaningless expressions

In most cases sentences have no meaning because there are

no verbs and the phrases are disjoined example.

Ihe ji hu onye nkuzi anya

Bu mara mma na eziagwa

This represents 4.2% of the errors

(17) Omission/wrong use of proverbs

This is where proverbs are used wrongly and in most cases

omitted completely, example.

Umu akwukwo anyi na

Etu ugo nasomipu oge obula

Nihi na aturu ilu si na

Onye mme ngwa o meghara

Odachi nkowa ya putara

Na onye gba mbo onweta iheoma

It had 4.5% of the total errors

86 (18) Error of tense

Here tenses are mixed or sometimes omitted. It may be the

mixture of positive and negative notation example.

Ihem jiri wee choro ka mdika

Onye nkuzi anyi by na ihi

Onye a naghi akuzi nkuzi

An aghi eriji afo

This represents 5.3% of the total errors

(19) Wrong pluralization

Here pupils mix singular with plural there by committing this

error example.

Ihe m ji huu �loakwukwo

M nanya bu n ona emeka onye

Ahu mara akwukwo

This represent 4.5% of the total errors

(20) Wrong coinage

Here pupils try to spell the English word in Igbo especially the

ones they do not know their names in Igbo. Most of the time the

words look funny, example

ihe m ji liki onye nkuzi

87 anyi bu o mara ma

This represents 4.7% of the total errors

(21) Repetition

n ihi n ihe mara mma di n ulo

akwukwo anyi o na eme m obi

uto na ebuli mmuo muu eluu

This error type constituted 3.4% and took the least position, the

21st position.

Explanation of Errors and Determinants of Errors

A careful study of the errors and frequencies of occurrence

revealed that mechanical errors cut across all the variables used in

the research, gender and location.

The major determinants of errors in pupils Igbo written

composition has been classified into two major factors namely social

and cognitive factors. The social factor comprises the negative

attitude of both the parents, teachers and the society at large and

socio economic background of the pupil which leads to

interference/dialectal influence. This interference might be interlingual

or intra lingual. This factor contributes extrinsically to the pupils

88 committing more errors in mechanical accuracy. In spelling errors for

instance, most pupils tend to spell Igbo linguistic items the way they

are pronounced in English that is inter lingual difficulties some pupils

spell some Igbo words as they are pronounced in their dialect. All

these are phonetic errors though the cause is dialectal interference.

For instance, in this study, under the sub heading 5: confusion from

dialect over some consonants like ‘r’, ‘l’, ‘h’, ‘f’, ‘v’, pupils mix it up

while writing example

Afu instead of ahu

Olu instead of oru

This mixture of dialects shows the influence of the mother

tongue in the pupils performance in the target language. Instead of

writing “ahu” which is standardone one, he wrote “aru”.

This level of pupils experience is critical in the sense that which

ever negative manner the parents and society at large places Igbo

will as well influence the pupils.

Another determinant of error is the cognitive factor. It is here

that the non-professional issue on the Igbo language teaching as well

as linguistic tools comes into play. The environment one finds him or

herself determine how one develops his/her cognitive system

89 concerning all the skills that are involved in language acquisition and

learning. This is seem in the omission/wrong use of vowel which has

the greatest error frequency of 189. Observation shows that pupils

who commit this error have not been exposed to vowel/harmony this

is followed by confusion from dialect over some consonant with

frequency of 180. The rural pupils and male committed this error

most. (see tables). This could be attributed to non exposure to the

Igbo language orthography by Igbo professionals. The schools do not

have enough qualified teachers of the Igbo language. Teachers

themselves cannot even detect the errors much more correcting the

pupils.

The level of pupils writing as far as the use of diacritic mark is

very much below expected standard. Moreover, some pupils

punctuate wrongly, others write a whole page without punctuation at

all yet some others punctuate in only obvious places like where full

stops occurs. This again arises from their naivety that at this stage

they have only been taught the use of obvious and simpler

punctuation marks, example comma and full stops even, not

explicitly. The researcher suggest that the complex ones like colon,

semi colon, inverted commas should be taught to them in details by

90 an expert in Igbo as well as engaging them in reading Igbo textbooks.

This reading is facilitated by close observation of pauses as indicated

by punctuation marks they will transfer this habit to their own written

work.

In conclusion, the researcher recommends, the use of language

equipment by professional in Igbo and as well as the speech and

reading drills as measures that will help the learner overcome his

difficulties in the mechanics of the Igbo language. The parents should

also show concern by providing Igbo textbooks and novels for the

children.

Expressional error which is another type of error committed by

pupils are numerous and valid. One of them which is “omission/wrong

use of preposition” is an area of great concern. In Igbo language the

word “na” is the only preposition in the language yet pupils misuse it

in sentences. The errors has 4.03% of the total errors identified. The

only workable formula for learning proper use of preposition is giving

extensive and constant exercise by an expert in the language which

will expose the pupils to the proper use of “na” to enable them identity

“na” as a preposition.

91 There are also copious examples of wrong paragraphing from

the pupils answer sheets. Teachers should teach their pupils the use

of paragraph through constant essay writing.

Conclusion

The study reveals that the errors committed by the pupils in

Nsukka Local Government Area include mechanical and expressional

errors and that mechanical is the area of greatest difficulty.

Urban pupils committed more errors of expression than the

rural pupils. Again the difference is not significant. The reason in this

case may be attributed to the close contact. These pupils in rural

areas are with the native speakers of the language. Pupils learn from

the owners of the language, the unadulterated forms of expression

especially in the area of idioms and proverbs, which is regarded as

saying of the wise. Some teachers are in experienced and cannot

give what they do not have.

Generally the descriptions and interpretations of the identified

errors led the researcher to the speculation that the determinants of

errors are: social and cognitive factors. The social factor comprises

the socio-economic background and negative attitude of the society

as a whole which results to foreign and native language interference,

92 over generalization ignorance of rule restriction and lack of

proficiency.

Finally, the revelations of this study justify the recommendation

of determinants of errors as a positive source of information in the

teaching-learning process in a second language learning situation.

Error analysis is facilitative in error detection. It is directed towards

specific goals and is therefore result oriented. Error analysis remedial

measure, are individualized since it is aimed at identifying private or

individual, as well as group or collective emergencies.

It is anticipated that emphasis on the identified problem areas

and the speculated causes in the subject curriculum and instruction

would be of immense educational values.

Education Implication of the Findings

The identification, classification, analysis and description of the

errors in the discussion have the following implications:

1. Since it is observed that the identified errors hinder the

learner’s clarity of expression, the learner’s awareness of the

errors committed in written Igbo composition will help him guard

against the erroneous use of Igbo language structure

93

2. Some of these errors detected can be corrected by the learner

if he makes a conscious effort to overcome them.

3. The identification of these errors makes the teacher aware of

the learner’s problem. He knows the areas of stress and

devotes special care and time for their remediation.

4. The teacher also reviews his teaching to know whether they are

suitable for the material being presented are appropriate for the

pupils level.

5. Carefully prepared structural exercise will enhance the pupils

understanding and usage of the language

6. The employment of professional in the teaching of Igbo

language will reduce the rate of committing errors

Recommendations

The following suggestions are made for the general improvement

in written Igbo composition

1. Igbo language teachers should adopt the technique of error

analysis as a procedure for language teaching.

94

2. Essay competition, workshops, seminars, school debate,

school drama should be organized for the primary school pupils

in order to improve the learning and use of Igbo language.

3. Teachers should also try as much as possible to always use

adequate and suitable learning materials. This will help the

pupils have a better understanding and mastery of the

language

4. Textbook writers should maintain Igbo forms in writing their

books and also maintain a communication link with classroom

teachers during the planning stage of the textbook writing

5. Igbo language and Igbo literature should be allotted a separate

time in the school time-table

6. Teachers should devote more time in teaching mechanics in

writing Igbo composition in particular and writing Igbo in general

7. More time should be devoted to oral language drill in Igbo so

that teacher should detect those who have difficult in

pronouncing some consonants in Igbo

8. Nigerian indigenous language teachers should be sponsored in

special course for teachers of Igbo as a second language

95

9. Igbo language teaching should be handled by professionals

alone

10. Both parents and the society should develop a positive

attitude towards the teaching and learning of Igbo language.

11. All the schools in the south eastern states should adopt

Igbo language as a medium of communication in their various

schools rather than penalizing the pupils for speaking Igbo

language in the school.

Limitations

The researcher would have liked the study to cover both the

spoken and written aspect of Igbo language. It would also have been

interesting for the study to cover the whole of Enugu State. It would

also have been ideal to use all the streams in the primary school. But

due to time available, financial constrains and distance, the work has

to be limited to six selected primary schools in Nsukka Local

Government Area.

However, the researcher hopes that the present study is of

significant value to the educational system especially now that

educational reform is taking place

96 Suggestion for Further Study

Further research could be carried out on these areas.

1. A study of the instructional problems encountered in the

teaching of Igbo language in Nsukka Education Zone

2. A psych – sociolinguistic error analysis of the written Igbo

composition of secondary school in Nsukka Education Zone

3. A study of influence of bilingualism on the teaching and learning

of Igbo language in primary school.

4. A contrastive analysis of Igbo and English language could be

carried out to show their structural differences

5. An investigation into to place of mechanical errors in written

Igbo composition

6. A similar study could be carried out at state or national level.

97

REFERENCES

Abonyi, A. N. (2007). Error Analysis in written Igbo Composition of Junior Secondary School II (JSSII) Students in Nsukka Local Government Area. Unpublished M.ED Thesis University of Nigeria Nsukka.

Bartholomae, T. (2003). Error as a Discovery Procedure in

Linguistics. Unpublished Manuscript. Brown, T. A. (2001). Idiosyncratic Dialects and Error Analysis.

Retrieved on 8th January, 2010 from http://www.africa language analysis.org/articles/gen/education 10204234737 htm.html

Corder, S. P. (2004). Significance of Learner Errors’ retrieved on 8th

January 2010 from http://www. Ellis, B. U. (2004). Error Analysis: A Positive Source of Information for

Language Teachers. Journal of Liberal Studies 15 (1) 1-12. dawodu.com/corder 140

Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004), National Policy on Education, (4th

Edition). Lagos: NERDC. Gardner, P. S. (2005). Error Analysis in G. A. Bolt and P. Wingard

(ed) The Teaching of English as an International Language (P. 215) London: Longman.

Jain, M. D. (2005), Error Analysis Source, Cause and Significance.

Retrieved on 8th January, 2010 From http://www.nijef.com/

98 James, P. O. (2007). Phonological Problems by Igbo Language in the

Studying of English in Secondary Schools in Nsukka Urba. Unpublished B. A. Project Nsukka: University of Nigeria.

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99 Okoye, P. N. (2003). Error Analysis and Theoretical/Consideration in

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English in Secondary School with Particular Reference to Schools in Nsukka Education Zone. Unpublished M. A Project Faculty of Arts university of Nigeria Nsukka.

Richard, J. C. (2005). A Non-Constructive Approach to Error Analysis

to English Language Teacher, London: Longman. Schwartz, T. N. (2006). Inter Language. In J. C. Richards (ed), Error

Analysis (P. 36) London: Longman. Shrunk, A. C. and White, T. D. (2008). Effective Writing: Way

Forward. London: Edward Arnold.

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101

APPENDIX K

A detailed categorization of error type

Mechanical Errors

Spelling Errors

1. Omission wrong use of diacritic mark (.)

2. Omission/wrong use of pronoun

3. Omission/wrong use of hyphen (-)

4. Omission/wrong use of apostrophe (‘)

5. Confusion from dialect over some consonants

6. Omission/wrong use of nasalized consonant

7. Omission/wrong use of vowels

8. Omission/wrong use of command and other punctuation errors

9. Omission/wrong use of full stop for sentence boundaries

10. Indiscriminate capitalization

11. Inconsistency in using either single or double quotation

marks

102

Expressional Errors

12. Omission/wrong use of use of preposition

13. Wrong paragraphing

14. Omission/wrong use of tones

15. Omission/wrong use of idioms

16. Meaningless of expression

17. Omission/wrong use of proverbs

18. Errors of tense

19. Wrong pluralization

20. Wrong coinage

21. Repetition

103

APPENDIX K

A DETAILED CATEGORIZATION OF ERROR

APPENDIX L

LIST OF TABLES

APPENDIX M

WRITTEN AND MARKED IGBO COMPOSITION

104


CLEARANCE FORM The named person below is not indebted to the Department of Arts Education, University of Nigeria Nsukka.

Please accord him/her all necessary assistance

Name of student: __________________________________________________

Registration number of student: _______________________________________

Area of specialization: ______________________________________________

Dr. F. A. Okwo Head of Department ……………………………………………………………………………………………..


CLEARANCE FORM

The named person below is not indebted to the Department of Arts Education, University of Nigeria Nsukka.

Please accord him/her all necessary assistance

Name of student: __________________________________________________

Registration number of student: _______________________________________

Area of specialization: ______________________________________________

Dr. F. A. Okwo Head of Department ……………………………………………………………………………………………..

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