Correcting grammatical errors in university-level foreign language students’ written work (original) (raw)

This study examined the grammar errors in written work made by 30 freshman students in the English Language Teaching Department at a Turkish university. The students were divided into two groups (each consisting of 15 students), with one group at a higher level than the other, according to the results of their proficiency exam. The students' written work was marked and the grammar errors were noted down. An analysis of the errors revealed the following error types: plurality, articles, subject-verb agreement, word order, pronouns, prepositions, part of speech, auxiliaries, negation, tense agreement and lexis. Of these, most errors were made overall with parts of speech, plurality, subject-verb agreement, prepositions and articles. Although, as might have been predicted, the students in the lower group made more errors (the average of 3.5) than those in the higher group (the average of 2.8), the higher level students actually made more errors than lower level students for some errors types (parts of speech and lexis). This phenomenon might be attributed to the more complicated language being attempted by the higher level students, which presents a higher risk of error. Implications for the teaching and learning situation are discussed and suggestions are made for further research.