Grammatical Errors in ESL Writing: An Error Analysis
Yasmine Liong Pui Kwan Abdullah1, Melor Md Yunus2, Harwati Hashim3
1Yasmine Liong Pui Kwan Abdullah, Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Kuala Pilah.
2Melor Md Yunus, Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
3Harwati Hashim, Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Manuscript received on 26 June 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 09 July 2019 | Manuscript Published on 17 July 2019 | PP: 302-307 | Volume-8 Issue-2S July 2019 | Retrieval Number: B10440782S19/2019©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: English is taught in Malaysia as the second language to a majority of Malaysians. Being ESL learners, it is not easy for most Malaysians to acquire the language. Therefore, teachers play an important part in helping ESL pupils to be competent in the language by determining the suitable materials and appropriate teaching methods. This can be done by obtaining information on the area of weaknesses that pupils are facing when learning the language with the help of error analysis. This study aims to identify the grammatical errors made by 77 Year 6 primary pupils from a suburban school based on a short guided essay they have written during their English class. The focus is on four word classes which have a higher frequency of errors. The findings showed that verbs are among the highest errors done by the pupils. This study suggested that a deep understanding of the problem areas of learning faced by pupils could be useful for teachers to plan an intervention to help their pupils improve in the learning of the language.
Keywords: English as Second Language (ESL), Writing Skills, Grammatical Errors, Error.
Scope of the Article: Social Sciences