VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES Pe ĐEErdOEk DANG TIT IIOANG LAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ERRORS IN VERB-TENSE FORMS FOUND IN PARAGRAPH-WRITING BY THE 10"-FORM STUDENTS AT KIM THANH UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL (Khdo sat cdc 18i vé dang thi của động từ thường gặp trong bải viết đoạn văn của họu sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Kim Thanh) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Tlanoj — 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES Pe ĐEErdOEk DANG TIT IIOANG LAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ERRORS IN VERB-TENSE FORMS FOUND IN PARAGRAPH-WRITING BY THE 10"-FORM STUDENTS AT KIM THANH UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL (Khdo sat cdc 18i vé dang thi của động từ thường gặp trong bải viết đoạn văn của họu sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Kim Thanh) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: ASSOC. LE VAN CANH Tlanoi — 2016 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP L PANG THI HOANG LAN, hereby certify that this thesis, which is entitled “An Investigation into the Errors in Yerb-Fense Forms Found in Paragraph-Writing by the 10th-Form Students at Kim Thanh Upper- Secondary School” is crcaled from my original work.
[have firmly declared the contribution of others to my thesis such as data analysis, practical strategies, and all other researches that were employed or reviewed in my thesis. This thesis is the result of my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, [Ianoi. Hanoi, 2016 DANG THI HOANG LAN PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study In English, the different tenses are signaled by verb endings or by auxiliary verbs.
‘Ihe English tense system is quite complicated. Lherefore, it is not surprising that even though students start from the easiest tense, they find it difficult to understand, remember and use the tense correctly, especially when, besides various uses and forms of different verb tenses, they have to memorize all hinds of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and auxiliarics. This will make students bored and make it difficull for them to comprehend English grammar. In English writing, verb is the most active part in the sentence for expressing an action, an occurrence, or a state of being.
Palmer (1965: 5} suggests that “learning a language is to a very large degree learning how to operate the verbal forms of that language.” In English, verbs are inflected for tense while there is no mflection in Victnamese. This causes difficulty to Vietnamese students learning English Through this study, the author tries to find cut the common types of errors in using verb-lense forms made by the 10"- grade students at Kim Thanh Upper- Secondary School in their written paragraphs. As a teacher at Kim Thanh High School, a school in a rural area of Hai Iueng province, the author sees that students tend to have problems in using the English tenses in their writings. The situation encourages the author to have An Investigation into the Errors in Verb-Tense Forms Found in Paragraph- Writing by the 10°-Form Students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secundary School It is hoped that the results of this study will be useful for both teachers and students in teaching and leaming writing skill in general and in improving paragraph-writing ability in particular.
Objectives of the study ‘The main objective of this study is to analyze students’ errors in using English tenses and identily the sour of errors as taken from the students’ writings as well as to provide some pedagogical implications lor teaching English as a foreign language. The objectives of this study are: 1 PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study In English, the different tenses are signaled by verb endings or by auxiliary verbs. ‘Ihe English tense system is quite complicated.
Lherefore, it is not surprising that even though students start from the easiest tense, they find it difficult to understand, remember and use the tense correctly, especially when, besides various uses and forms of different verb tenses, they have to memorize all hinds of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and auxiliarics. This will make students bored and make it difficull for them to comprehend English grammar. In English writing, verb is the most active part in the sentence for expressing an action, an occurrence, or a state of being. Palmer (1965: 5} suggests that “learning a language is to a very large degree learning how to operate the verbal forms of that language.” In English, verbs are inflected for tense while there is no mflection in Victnamese.
This causes difficulty to Vietnamese students learning English Through this study, the author tries to find cut the common types of errors in using verb-lense forms made by the 10"- grade students at Kim Thanh Upper- Secondary School in their written paragraphs. As a teacher at Kim Thanh High School, a school in a rural area of Hai Iueng province, the author sees that students tend to have problems in using the English tenses in their writings. The situation encourages the author to have An Investigation into the Errors in Verb-Tense Forms Found in Paragraph- Writing by the 10°-Form Students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secundary School It is hoped that the results of this study will be useful for both teachers and students in teaching and leaming writing skill in general and in improving paragraph-writing ability in particular. Objectives of the study ‘The main objective of this study is to analyze students’ errors in using English tenses and identily the sour of errors as taken from the students’ writings as well as to provide some pedagogical implications lor teaching English as a foreign language.
The objectives of this study are: 1 LIST OF TABLES TABLES Page Table 1.1 Fossilization Process of Interlanguage (adapted from 13 Selinker 1972) Table 1.2 Positive and Negative Transfer (Adapted from Khansir, 14 2012) ‘Table 1.3 Error Analysis Procedure by §.1 An overview of the errors in verb tense choice Table 3.2 Omission Errors ‘Table 3.3 Addition Errors Table 3.4 Misformation errors Table 3.5 Misordenng errors Table 3.6 Summary of the errors in verb-tense forms Table 3.7 Factors leading to the errors vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ACKROWLEDGHMENTS.— LIST OF TABLEä .— LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. Rationale of the study We Objectives of the study N 3 Research question. Harry RN 4 Scope of the study. Harry 5 Method of study.
Design of the study. Significance of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT. nn CITAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW LI. The writing syllabus for 10"-grade students.
Delmitions oŸ errors. Causes of errors 4, The challenges of leaming Hnglish verb tenses 1. Theoretical Foundation of Error Analysis 15. Interference of First language (L1) into Second Language (L2}.
Methods used in researching errors.P Corder’s Error Analysis Procedure. Surface Strategy Taxonomy (Dulay, Burt and Krahsen, 1982). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ABSTRACT This study aims at investigating the common errors in verb-tense forms made by the students of gradc 10 al Kim Thanh Upper- Sceondary School. The participants are forty two tenth-grade students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secondary School, where the author is working.
In order to find out the most common errors m verb-tense forms and factors causing the students’ making these errors, two data collection instruments are employed: students’ written paragraphs and individual open-ended interviews. The results showed that more errors were made in verb-tense forms than in verb-tense choice. Regarding the errors made by the students’ confusion of different verb tenses, the most and the least erroneous lenses were the Past Simple tense and the Future Simple Tense respectively. As to errors in verb-tense forms, omission errors were the most frequent ones, while misordering was the least frequently-made.
By describing and interpreting the data collected, the researcher managed lo find oul faclors leading to these errors, which consisted of both objective factors and subjective factors. Based on the literature review and findings, the author put forward practical suggestions to the teachers of English with a view to improving English teaching and learning at the school. LIST OF TABLES TABLES Page Table 1.1 Fossilization Process of Interlanguage (adapted from 13 Selinker 1972) Table 1.2 Positive and Negative Transfer (Adapted from Khansir, 14 2012) ‘Table 1.3 Error Analysis Procedure by §.1 An overview of the errors in verb tense choice Table 3.2 Omission Errors ‘Table 3.3 Addition Errors Table 3.4 Misformation errors Table 3.5 Misordenng errors Table 3.6 Summary of the errors in verb-tense forms Table 3.7 Factors leading to the errors vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study In English, the different tenses are signaled by verb endings or by auxiliary verbs.
‘Ihe English tense system is quite complicated. Lherefore, it is not surprising that even though students start from the easiest tense, they find it difficult to understand, remember and use the tense correctly, especially when, besides various uses and forms of different verb tenses, they have to memorize all hinds of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and auxiliarics. This will make students bored and make it difficull for them to comprehend English grammar. In English writing, verb is the most active part in the sentence for expressing an action, an occurrence, or a state of being.
Palmer (1965: 5} suggests that “learning a language is to a very large degree learning how to operate the verbal forms of that language.” In English, verbs are inflected for tense while there is no mflection in Victnamese. This causes difficulty to Vietnamese students learning English Through this study, the author tries to find cut the common types of errors in using verb-lense forms made by the 10"- grade students at Kim Thanh Upper- Secondary School in their written paragraphs. As a teacher at Kim Thanh High School, a school in a rural area of Hai Iueng province, the author sees that students tend to have problems in using the English tenses in their writings. The situation encourages the author to have An Investigation into the Errors in Verb-Tense Forms Found in Paragraph- Writing by the 10°-Form Students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secundary School It is hoped that the results of this study will be useful for both teachers and students in teaching and leaming writing skill in general and in improving paragraph-writing ability in particular.
Objectives of the study ‘The main objective of this study is to analyze students’ errors in using English tenses and identily the sour of errors as taken from the students’ writings as well as to provide some pedagogical implications lor teaching English as a foreign language. The objectives of this study are: 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ACKROWLEDGHMENTS.— LIST OF TABLEä .— LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. Rationale of the study We Objectives of the study N 3 Research question. Harry RN 4 Scope of the study.
Harry 5 Method of study. Design of the study. Significance of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT. nn CITAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW LI.
The writing syllabus for 10"-grade students. Delmitions oŸ errors. Causes of errors 4, The challenges of leaming Hnglish verb tenses 1. Theoretical Foundation of Error Analysis 15.
Interference of First language (L1) into Second Language (L2}. Methods used in researching errors.P Corder’s Error Analysis Procedure. Surface Strategy Taxonomy (Dulay, Burt and Krahsen, 1982). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ABSTRACT This study aims at investigating the common errors in verb-tense forms made by the students of gradc 10 al Kim Thanh Upper- Sceondary School.
The participants are forty two tenth-grade students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secondary School, where the author is working. In order to find out the most common errors m verb-tense forms and factors causing the students’ making these errors, two data collection instruments are employed: students’ written paragraphs and individual open-ended interviews. The results showed that more errors were made in verb-tense forms than in verb-tense choice.