VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* TRẦN TRỌNG CƯƠNG COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS MADE BY 12TH GRADERS IN THEIR WRITINGS: A STUDY AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (NHỮNG LỖI NGỮ PHÁP PHỔ BIẾN MÀ HỌC SINH LỚP 12 THƯỜNG MẮC PHẢI TRONG CÁC BÀI VIẾT: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG THPT Ở BẮC NINH) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English language teaching methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi – 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* TRẦN TRỌNG CƯƠNG COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS MADE BY 12TH GRADERS IN THEIR WRITINGS: A STUDY AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (NHỮNG LỖI NGỮ PHÁP PHỔ BIẾN MÀ HỌC SINH LỚP 12 THƯỜNG MẮC PHẢI TRONG CÁC BÀI VIẾT: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG THPT Ở BẮC NINH) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English language teaching methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Prof. Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I certify that the thesis entitled “COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS MADE BY 12TH GRADERS IN THEIR WRITINGS: A STUDY AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Art at University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution. Hanoi, 2017 Trần Trọng Cương i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been materialized without the help of many people, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to them. My first thanks go to my supervisor, Prof. Hoang Van Van, for his constant encouragement and invaluable assistance during the process of carrying out this project.
I am grateful to all the lecturers at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, VNU University of Languages and International Studies for providing us with knowledge from precious and helpful lectures. My sincere thanks are reserved for all my students and my colleagues at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School (NDDUS) for their helpful contributions and co-operation in this study. Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks are also reserved for my family and friends for their love and support that have encouraged me a lot in carrying out this study. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT As teachers teaching English writing skills, we have always hoped that through teaching our students are able to produce an organized, neat and error-free piece of writing, but this seems to be a lifelong dream for us.
The purpose of this study is to find out common grammatical errors committed by the twelve-form students at NDDUS in their writings. The study was carried out in NDDUS with 90 12th form students involving in. The data showed that the greatest number of errors committed by our students is verb tenses and aspects, sentence structures, articles, prepositions and nouns. The causes of those mistakes are numerous; but two are representative: student‟s lack of understanding of English grammar and, in particular, their lack of writing practice.
They do not have time and environment to practise English outside the classroom; they have quite vague knowledge of grammar; and accordingly they are not sure whether they write correct English. From the findings, some pedagogical suggestions are offered to improve the learning of grammar of twelve graders at NDDUS. It is hoped that this study would make a small contribution to the study of errors analysis in foreign language teaching in Vietnamese schools. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION ……………………………….
Aims and Objectives of the Study …………………. Aim of the Study ……………………………. Objectives of the Study ……………………. Scope of the Study …….
Methods of the Study ………. Significance of the Study ………. Design of the Study ……………….5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW…. Definitions of Grammar……………………………………………….
Scope of Grammar……………………………………………………. Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum……………………………7 1. Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freemen…….…………13 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Definition of Error……………………………….
Distinction between “Error” and “Mistake”…………. Classification of Error……………………………. Review of Previous Studies………………………. An Overview of the Research Site………………….
About the School……………………. About the Teachers of English………………………………………. About the Syllabus and the 12th Graders‟ English Learning………. Methods of the Study……………………………………….
Description of the Sample………………………………………………. Data collection procedure………………………………. Scope of Data Analysis………………………………………………….21 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION…………………………………. Sentence Structure Errors………………………….
Some Possible Solutions to Minimizing Errors…………………………34 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Summary of the Findings………………………………………. Recommendations for Further Research…………………………….I vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure1. Frequency of grammatical errors in students‟ writings by categories Table 1.
Frequency of grammatical errors in students‟ writings by types Table 3. Frequency of each grammatical error type Figure 3. Frequency of each grammatical error type vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS NDDUS : Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School EA : Error Analysis EFL : English as a Foreign Language ESL : English as a Second Language viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale It cannot be denied that English plays a very important role in today‟s global world.
Quirk (1972: 2-3) stated that “English is the world’s most important language. and the world’s most widely used language”. English, moreover, is “a top requirement of those seeking good jobs” (Quirk, 1972: 4). Therefore, without English, it is almost impossible for nations and people to communicate with one another.
Consequently, “no language is more widely studied or used as a foreign language than English. more timetable hours are devoted to English than any other subject” (Quirk, 1972: 4). English is becoming more and more needed in Vietnam as more foreign companies and international organizations come to Vietnam to work and do business. If one wants to have greater chances in their work and more success in life, he/she must know a foreign language, especially English.
If students want to have a chance to study abroad, they have to learn English or a foreign language well. Because of that, English books in Vietnam are continuously improved to satisfy the increasing needs of the society. Therefore, English learners of all ages have greater chances to master the language with good resources; they are also likely to get better learning results and good jobs in the future. But during the course of learning English, learners can‟t avoid committing errors.
All of us are in “an imperfect world and consequently errors will always occur in spite of our best efforts” (Richards, 1974: 20). Years ago, errors made by students were regarded as “something undesirable which they diligently sought to prevent from occurring” (Touchie, 1986: 75). On the contrary, people now consider errors “as evidence for a creative process in language learning” (Touchie, 1986: 75). According to Norrish (1983: 6), error is “a necessary part of learning a language”.
Errors are made by students both in receptive and productive skills. Of the productive skills – speaking -1- LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com and writing, students tend to make the most errors in writing since “writing is more difficult than speaking” (Norrish, 1983: 63). Regarding to the context of Nguyen Dang Dao Upper Secondary School, Bac Ninh province, of the four skills in English, writing seems to be the most challenging skill for all of the students. They commit many errors while learning how to write.
Among those, grammatical errors in writing seem to cause more problems to them. There are reasons for this. First, students of grade 12 at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper Secondary School use English textbooks (basic stream) written by Hoang Van Van et al (2016). The book provides limited time for writing skill.
It consists of 16 lessons, each of which is divided into 5 parts: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Language focus. Every part is taught in a 45-minute period. Thus, writing skill accounts for only one fifth the amount of time for English subject, which is taught three times a week. Consequently, the time for the writing part each week that students are taught is 45 minutes.
And each writing lesson deals with a different kind of writings such as writing a letter, writing a paragraph, writing a description and so on. This requirement of writing is good for students in general but causing some difficulties. On one hand, students will have good chances to learn various types of writings. On the other hand, the number of mistakes they make is also greater due to the different types of writings they have to cope with.
Second, students tend to favor receptive language skills rather than productive ones. They can do multiple choice tests better than produce a piece of writing. The above reasons constitute the motive for me to carry out the research: “Common Grammatical Errors Made by 12th Graders in their Writings: A Study at an Upper Secondary School in Bac Ninh province”. Aims and Objectives of the Study 2.
Aims of the Study The overarching aim of the study is to find out common grammatical errors made by the twelfth graders at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School in their -2- LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com writings, from which the teachers will use more suitable methods and techniques to teach their students writing more effectively. Objectives of the Study To achieve this overarching aim, the following objectives are set for exploration: 1. Identifying common grammatical errors made by the twelfth graders in their writings at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School. Offering some solutions to minimize those errors.
Research Questions To make the task manageable, the above objectives are converted into the following research questions: 1. What are the common grammatical errors made by the twelfth graders at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School in their writings? 2. What possible solutions should be offered to minimize those errors? 4. Scope of the Study Basing on the aim, the objectives and the research questions above, this research will confines itself to the following tasks: (1) identifying common grammatical errors made by the twelfth grade students at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School in their writings; (2) offering some solutions to minimize students‟ errors.
Methods of the Study The study will employ both qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative method is used to examine the features of grammatical errors, analyzing the data collected from students‟ writings. Quantitative method is used to calculate the number and frequency of grammatical errors made by the twelfth graders at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School in their writings so as to identify their common writing errors. -3- LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Significance of the Study It is hoped that the findings of the study will be useful to both the teachers of English and students of the twelfth grades at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School. It will help the teachers to realize what their students have achieved and what gaps need to be filled concerning their teaching writing skill. It will help the twelfth grade students at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School realize their strengths and weaknesses in writing skill so that they can find ways to minimize errors, to practice more so as to get better results in their writing. It will also help students in the 12th grade improve their English grammar in general and writing skill in particular.
Design of the Study The study consists of three parts: Introduction, Development, and Conclusion. The Introduction presents the rationale for the study, the aim and objectives of the study and research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, and the design of the study.