An error analysis on Turkish EFL learners’ writing tasks

Year 2022, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 121 - 141, 18.12.2022

Berfu Duygun , Pınar Karabacak

https://doi.org/10.47216/literacytrek.1117158

Abstract

This descriptive qualitative study aimed to investigate the types and sources of errors committed by Turkish students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in their foreign language (L2) writings as well as find out whether there is a difference in terms of the number, classification, and sources of errors between students at two different proficiency levels. To this end, the study was carried out at the School of Foreign Languages at a non-profit foundation university in Turkey in the 2020-2021 academic year. The students participating in the study (N= 32), who were selected using the convenient sampling method and participated in the study voluntarily, were Turkish preparatory class students having two different English proficiency levels, namely A1 level (n= 16) and A2 level (n= 16). Data for the study came from three different narrative paragraphs (each ranging in a 100 - 200 word band) written by the students, and a total of 96 paragraphs were collected for the study. The analysis revealed that the most frequent type of error was grammatical errors overall, a large part of which was the inappropriate use of verb forms. Moreover, findings concerning the potential differences between two proficiency levels showed that A1 level learners committed more errors than A2 level learners in all types except the semantic errors. Based on these findings, a number of implications for L2 writing teachers are discussed.

Keywords

Error analysis, L2 writing, error, grammatical errors

References

• Atmowardoyo, H. (2018). Research methods in TEFL studies: Descriptive research, case study, error analysis, and R & D. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(1), 197-204.
• Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2002). Research methods in education. Routledge Publishers, 3(6), 147-156.
• Corder, S. P. (1967). The significance of learner's errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching (IRAL), 4(5), 161-170.
• Çepni, G. (2014). Error analysis in writings of English language teaching prep students: A study on bilinguals of Kurdish and Turkish majoring in English. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Çağ University, Turkey.
• Ellis, R. (2019). Towards a modular language curriculum for using tasks. Language Teaching Research, 23(4), 454-475.
• Erdoğan, V. (2005). Contribution of error analysis to foreign language teaching. Mersin Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 1(2), 261-270.
• Eroğlu, S., Alabay, S., & Keklik, H. (2022). A study on the usage of verb’s complements with cases by French bilingual Somali students learning Turkish as a foreign language. International Education Studies, 15(2), 113-122.
• Fisiak, J. (1985). Contrastive linguistics and the language teacher. Pergamon Press.
• Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: an introductory course. Journal for English as a Second Language, 1(3), 243-249.
• Gürsel, E. (1998). Error analysis of the English writings of the students from the department of foreign language at the University of Gaziantep. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Gaziantep University, Turkey.
• Hamouda, A. (2011). A study of students and teachers' preferences and attitudes towards correction of classroom written errors in Saudi EFL context. English Language Teaching, 4(3), 128-141.
• Karim, A., Mohamed, A. R., Ismail, S. A. M. M., Shahed, F. H., Rahman, M. M., & Haque, M. H. (2018). Error analysis in EFL writing classroom. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(4), 122-138.
• Kaweera, C. (2013). Writing error: a review of interlingual and intralingual interference in EFL context. English Language Teaching, 6(7), 9-18.
• Kennedy, M. M. (2010). Attribution error and the quest for teacher quality. Educational Researcher, 39(8), 591-598.
• Mustafa, F., Kirana, M., & Bahri, S. (2017). Errors in EFL writing by junior high students in Indonesia. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 6(1), 38-52.
• Prasetyawati, O. A., & Ardi, P. (2020). Integrating Instagram into EFLwriting to foster student engagement. Teaching English with Technology, 20(3), 40-62.
• Polit, D. F., & Hungler, B.P. (1999) Nursing research: Principles and methods (6th edition). Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott. Pokrivčáková, S. (2019). Preparing teachers for the application of AI-powered technologies in foreign language education. Journal of Language and Cultural Education. 5(3), 135-153.
• Phuket, P. R. N., & Othman, N. B. (2015). Understanding EFL students' errors in writing. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(32), 99-106.
• Richards, J. C. (1974). A non-contrastive approach to error analysis. Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition, 3(7), 172-188.
• Richards, J. C., and Schmidt, R. (2002). Dictionary of language teaching & applied linguistics. Pearson Education Limited.
• Ridha, N. (2012). The effect of EFL learners' mother tongue on their writings in English: An error analysis study. Journal of the College of Arts, 60, 22-45.
• Saltık, S (1997). A Study of error analysis in the essays of freshman students at the Middle East Technical University. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Middle East Technical University, Turkey.
• Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 10(3), 209-231.
• Sermsook, K., Liamnimit, J., & Pochakorn, R. (2017). An analysis of errors in written English sentences: A case study of Thai EFL students. English Language Teaching, 10(3), 101-110.
• Sürüç Şen, N., & Şimşek, A. (2020). An Analysis of Turkish students’ written Errors: A case of an EFL context. Journal of Language Research, 4(1), 58-68.
• Thornbury, S. (2017). The New A-Z of ELT: A dictionary of terms and concepts. Macmillan.
• Watcharapunyawong, S., & Usaha, S. (2013). Thai EFL students' writing errors in different text types: The interference of the first language. English Language Teaching, 6(1), 67-78.
• Wulandari, R. S., & Harida, R. (2021). Grammatical error analysis in essay writing. Deiksis, 13(1), 73-81.
• Wu, H. P., & Garza, E. V. (2014). Types and attributes of English writing errors in the EFL context-A study of error analysis. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 5(6), 1256-1262.