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okk Survey the using of Web, app in developing speaking skill of the English - Majored sophomores at the faculty of foreign languages of industrial university of Ho Chi Minh City.Survey the using of Web, app in developing speaking skill of the English - Majored sophomores at the faculty of foreign languages of industrial university of Ho Chi Minh City.
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GRADUATION THESIS RESEARCH ON COMMON ERRORS IN ESSAY WRITING BY NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT THE SAIGON INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY (SIU) STUDENT: ĐỖ THÀ NH ĐẠ T ID NUMBER: 18069781 CLASS: DHAV14H COHORT: 2018 - 2022 SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄ N THỊ KIM CHUNG, M.A. HCMC, 12/
GRADUATION THESIS RESEARCH ON COMMON ERRORS IN ESSAY WRITING BY NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT THE SAIGON INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY (SIU) STUDENT: Đ Ỗ THÀ NH ĐẠ T ID NUMBER: 18069781 CLASS: DHAV14H COHORT: 2018 - 2022 SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄ N THỊ KIM CHUNG, M.A. HCMC, 12/
Research on common errors in essay writing by Non_English Majors at the Saigon International University (SIU) ABSTRACT This study was carried out to find types and causes of errors in essay writing by Non- English majors at the Saigon International University (SIU). In addition, the research searched for appropriate solutions to help students to overcome their errors. Many studies were performed both on finding some of errors and realizing the reasons; however, not much research gave the diversity of errors. Therefore, we conducted the research named “Research on common errors in essay writing by Non_English Majors at the Saigon International University (SIU)”. Eight lecturers and 50 students were invited to participate in this study. Quantitative, statistics methods and questionnaires were chosen to gather data. The findings revealed four most common types of errors: errors in content, vocabulary, and grammar. Besides, eight specific errors which students faced including Coherence, Cohesion, Organization of ideas, Word usage, Word type, Structure, Singular/plural noun, Genre. In addition, the result of data analysis also declared certain causes and appropriate solutions to help students avoid defined errors. Key words: writing skills, essay writing, mistakes, common errors, causes, solutions
During the thesis process, I received plenty of enthusiastic help and support that guide and encourage me to overcome all difficulties and finish this hard but meaningful time. Furthermore, I am fortunate to met and work with so many motivated people who guided me along with this research. First of all, I would like to express my endless thanks and gratefulness to Mrs. Nguyen Kim Chung, my advisor for her useful guidance and advice. She devoted the majority of her leisure time to my group's research, making real suggestions and remarks. Without her motivation and instructions, the thesis would have been impossible to be done effectively. My completion of this project could not have been accomplished without the support of fifty students and eight lecturers at SIU who responded to the questionnaires and helped my group collect data to complete my thesis successfully. My heartfelt and special thanks approve to my group members, Hong Linh, Hong Nhung for the stimulating discussions, the sleepless nights we were working together before deadlines, and for all the fun we have had in the last four months. In short, I am really thankful to all the people helping me to complete my thesis again.
Table 1: English Written Errors for Syntax Table 2: English Written Errors for Lexis Table 3: English Written Errors for Morphology Table 4: English Written Errors for Discource Table 5: Interlingual Errors
Student name: Đỗ Thà nh Đạ t Student ID Number: 18069781 1 Supervisor name: Nguyễ n Thị Kim Chung, M.A
Student name: Đỗ Thà nh Đạ t Student ID Number: 18069781 2 Supervisor name: Nguyễ n Thị Kim Chung, M.A 1.1 Rationale: People are devoting more and more time to learning English as a second language nowadays. Many countries have English as part of their school curriculum, and children are learning English at an ever-younger age. Essay writing is a crucial part in the study process of students at the Saigon International University (SIU) because all of the tests, exercises and thesis must be done in English. Academic Writing accounts for 10% of total learning program and helps students finish their courses. Essay Writing makes up 50% of Academic Writing program. Though students at SIU take much time practicing their writing skills and the university also has well-qualified lecturers, non-English majors still make many errors when writing an English essay. There are many studies on common errors in essay writing over the years but students continue making these errors. To identify the reasons for these errors and find out the solutions to help students overcome this problem in essay writing, our group decided to carry out this study: “Research on common errors in essay writing by Non-English Majors at SIU”. 1.2 Research objectives The goal of this study is to conduct an investigation of common errors in essay writing by Non_English Majors at the Saigon International University (SIU). It would have the potential to achieve the following objectives:
Student name: Đỗ Thà nh Đạ t Student ID Number: 18069781 4 Supervisor name: Nguyễ n Thị Kim Chung, M.A
Student name: Đỗ Thà nh Đạ t Student ID Number: 18069781 5 Supervisor name: Nguyễ n Thị Kim Chung, M.A 2.1 Definitions of key terms 2.1.1 Definition of writing According to Nunan (2003): writing is both a physical and mental act. At the most basic level, writing is the physical act of committing words or ideas to some medium. On the other hand, writing is the mental work of inventing ideas, thinking about how to express them, and organizing them into statements and paragraphs that will be clear to a reader. The viewpoint is supported by Dumais (1988) defined that writing in English is meant to fill the gap that exists between the ability to express ideas, feeling, opinions. In other words, Harmer (2007) stated that the writing skill is a process that should be carried out through different stages, including drafting, editing, planning and final draft. 2.1.2 The reasons for learning writing Raimes (1983): emphasized that writing helps students learn the language. Meanwhile, Rita Rani Mandal(2009): It is an important tool, which enables man to communicate with others people in many ways. According to Harmer (2007), writing is used as practice tool to help students practice and work with language they have been studying. 2.2. Essay writing 2.2.1 Definition of essay Definition of essay by Alamirew, G. (2008) said that “An essay is an extended writing on a particular topic/ subject. At this level of writing a writer has ample opportunity to develop his/ her ideas in detail when compared with paragraph writing which limits a writer to develop only one major idea”. According to Oshima, A., & Hogue, A. (2006), essay is a piece of writing consisting of one particular topic breaking down into several paragraphs (one for each major point) started by the introductory paragraph and ended by concluding paragraph. Oxford declared that: essay is a short piece of writing on one subject. 2.2.2 Types of essays Jack Caufield stated that There are a lot of types of essays but common essays required in high school, college, and post-graduate classes include:
Student name: Đỗ Thà nh Đạ t Student ID Number: 18069781 7 Supervisor name: Nguyễ n Thị Kim Chung, M.A improvement”. Furthermore, Norrish (1987) stated that error a systematic deviation, when a learner has not learnt something and consistently gets it wrong or Cunning Worth (1987) defined error as systematic deviations from the norms of language being learned. In addition, Ferris (2002) stated that a mistake is a natural process of learning and must be considered as a part of cognition and Corder (1967) said that mistakes are unsystematic, occasional and occur typically at random or study of Cunning Worth (1987): error as systematic deviations from the norms of language being learned. 2.3.2 The differences of errors and mistakes Jie (2008) defined those errors are related to failure in competence and mistakes are related to failure in performance. The main difference between error and mistake is that error is the wrong action, which is the result of the lack of knowledge or skill, whereas mistake is a wrongly made choice that is usually accidental. The word error is a noun that refers to something wrong, inaccurate, faulty, etc. The word mistake is a noun, as well as a verb implying that something is done wrong. Error is a kind of wrongdoing that is more formal and technical. The mistake is less formal and less technical wrongdoing. In this respect, Ellis (1994) stated errors occur because lack of knowledge; mistake occurs because the students fail to shows their competence. Norrish (1983) believed that error as a systematic and mistake as an unsystematic but Brown (2000) said that error is “noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker, reflecting the interlanguage competence of the learner”; mistake is as “a performance error that is either a random guess or a “slip” in that it is failure to utilize a known system correctly”. However, the study of Ellis Rod (1997) showed errors reflect gaps between learners’ knowledge; mistakes reflect occasional lapses in performance. 2.3.3 Sources of errors and mistakes Edge, J (1989) declared that sources of error was the interference from the speakers’ first language. Apart from that, Richard, C. (1974) stated that sources of error was the interference between mother tongue & the general characteristics of the rule learning. According to Corder, S. P. (1967), sources of mistake was omission, addition, substitution, permutation. The study of Abbort (1981) & Richard (1971) showed that sources of mistake was mother tongue interference, within L2 interference system itself. 2.4 The errors and factors causing poor essay writing 2.4.1 Errors in essay writing ▪ Coherence
Student name: Đỗ Thà nh Đạ t Student ID Number: 18069781 8 Supervisor name: Nguyễ n Thị Kim Chung, M.A Coherence is an outcome of a dialogue between the text and its listener or reader, this is the statement of (Tanskanen & Benjamins (2006). Then, Kouch (2004) believed coherence denotes the ability of the writer to combine the arrangement of sentences altogether in the text so that the reader decodes and understands it. Meanwhile, Favero & Lee said that coherence in any piece of writing as a cognitive process, the writer mind the use of language, the choice of vocabulary & the arrangement of sentences. ❖ Cohesive Halliday & Hasan (1976) defined the concept of cohesion is a semantic one; it refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text, and that define it as a text. Besides, Baily (2003) named cohesion refers to the clarity and readability and the use of the different types of sentences and cohesive devices. ❖ Organization of ideas Morgan (2016) declared organization of ideas have trouble starting first idea or topic ❖ Vocabulary Vocabulary is the collection of words that an individual knows (Linse, 2005:121). There are some experts who give definitions of vocabulary. Hatch and Brown (1995) defined vocabulary as a list of words for a particular language or a list or set of words that individual speakers of language might use. Furthermore, in Webster Dictionary vocabulary is defined as a list or collection of words usually alphabetically arranged and explained or lexicon, stock of words use in language or by class, individual, etc. 2.4.2 Factors causing poor essay writing ▪ Lack of time Collins & Getner declared coordinate all requirements of an essay ( overall text structure, paragraph structure, sentence structure and word structure) is a staggering job, it’s time constraint. ▪ Lack of grammar Farooq (2012) named grammar is the most difficult area for L2 writers. Students face challenges in the use of correct sentence structure and paragraph development, and in creating coherent text. ▪ Lack of reading Raimes (1994) stated “the more our students read, the more they become familiar with the vocabulary, idiom, sentence patterns, organizational flow, and cultural assumptions of native
Student name: Đỗ Thà nh Đạ t Student ID Number: 18069781 10 Supervisor name: Nguyễ n Thị Kim Chung, M.A Table 1: English Written Errors for Syntax
Student name: Đỗ Thà nh Đạ t Student ID Number: 18069781 11 Supervisor name: Nguyễ n Thị Kim Chung, M.A Table 2: English Written Errors for Lexis Table 3: English Written Errors for Morphology Table 4: English Written Errors for Discource The study found many categories (33) of 4 major errors group and declared that do not have an adequate knowledge of the language at these levels. It is also evident that the learners tend to think (in their first language) before translating into the target language which can be seen in the learner's mistakes. The result in this study was not generalizable to other contexts because the limited to only 15 university students and 45 written texts during semester, it means that each students had 3 essay tests. In addition, the students either were chosen from many universities which had different levels or taught in dissimilar methods. So it creates the dissimilarity in knowledge which affects the result of the study, it is not clear and unreliable. Furthermore, the research did not carry out on teachers and use the questionnaire to survey students for getting the data. They gave the solutions by their own thinking such as “every educational player, and particularly teachers, can help improve the teaching and learning of English writing, according to the Error analysis of the English writing found in this study since teachers can understand why students make certain errors and then, prepare remedial lessons”. Another study named “The Effect of EFL Learners' Mother Tongue on their Writings in English: An Error Analysis Study” by Assis. Lecturer Nada Salih A. Ridha in Journal of the College