Abstract

The current study aims at figuring out and analyzing the various types of errors made by second year EFL learners in writing at the Department of English at the University of Souk-Ahras, and exploring the major causes that stand behind committing such errors. To examine the main hypothesis that suggests that spelling, grammar mistakes and word choice are the types of errors that learners make the most while writing in EFL, and that learners’ incomplete knowledge of the target language, and the wrong application of the rules are the main causes for making written errors, an analysis of fourteen (14) students’ written essays was done. In addition, a students’ questionnaire was designed and distributed to the sample of the study which is 33 second year EFL learners from the total number of 107 learners at the Department of English, in order to know the main causes behind making errors in EFL writing. The findings confirm that second years students make different types of written errors which include: capitalization, spelling, word choice, punctuation errors, verb tense, wrong word form, unclear ideas, errors of articles, miss-ordering of ideas and errors of singular/plural. Moreover, the findings brought from students’ questionnaire reveal that the highest frequencies of causes stand behind committing errors in writing are the lack of grammatical rules and the limited time for completing a written task inside the classrooms. The present study aims to provide evidence for EFL teachers about the common errors that EFL learners make and the reasons that stand behind committing them. Thus, much more attention would be paid to the selection and application of effective methods and techniques to improve EFL learners’ writing skills. Our study aims also to raise learners’ awareness about their frequent errors in writing, so that they will take it seriously and try their best to strengthen their writing skills.

Information

Item Type:	Master
Divisions:
ePrint ID:	4595
Date Deposited:	2023-11-21
Further Information:	Google Scholar
URI:	https://www.univ-soukahras.dz/en/publication/article/4595

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