iii ABSTRACT ***** This paper studies the common written errors that first year English major students in Hung Yen University of Technology and Education make and the significance of error correction in English writing teaching. To achieve the desired aims of the current study, I combined both qualitative and quantitative methods, including 3 main ones namely observation, survey questionnaire and student writing analysis. The subjects participating in the survey questionnaire were 60 first year students and 6 writing teachers. Besides 30 students’ writings were also analyzed and 6 writing lessons were observed.
Research results show that errors first year English major students often make are basically dueto the lack of vocabulary and problems with normal grammatical rules in English. The main causes of these errors are the interference of mother tongue, teaching- included cause, carelessness and psychology, in which interference from the first language is the biggest cause. Besides, it is found out that students’ writing improves significantly after teacher’s error correction. Some correction methods and techniques, including self – correction, peer – correction, student – teacher correction and remedial exercises, therefore, are strongly suggested in hope to help teachers to give effective error correction.
LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENT. iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES. vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
Rational of the study. Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Methods of the study.
Design of the study. 4 CHAPTER 1 : LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of error. Distinction between errors and mistakes.
Sources of errors. Error correction and significance of error correction. 8 CHAPTER II : METHODS OF THE STUDY. Participants of the study.
Data collection instruments.1 Reasons for choosing survey questionnaire. 11 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Description of survey questionnaires. Survey questionnaire for students.
Survey questionnaire for teachers. Student writing analysis. Reasons for choosing student writing analysis. Description of student writing analysis.
Procedure of data collection. 13 CHAPTER III : RESULT AND DISCUSSION. Common errors made by first year English major students in UTEHY based on data analysis and discussion. Data analysis from questionnaires and observation.
Students’ attitude towards their errors. Teacher’s attitude towards students’ errors .2 Data analysis from student writing .Students’ improvement in writing proficiency as a result of teacher’s error correction. Data analysis from questionnaires and observation. Students’ attitude towards their improvement in writing proficiency.
Teacher’s attitude towards their improvement in writing proficiency.2 Data analysis from student writing analysis. Some implications for writing teachers .1 Methods to give feedback. Use error code. How much and when to correct errors.
Integrate positive and negative, direct and indirect feedback. Techniques for error correction. Student – teacher correction .35 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi PART C. Summary of the study.
The limitation of the study. Suggestion for further study. VI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Page Figure 3. Students’ assessment on difficulty of writing skill 15 Figure 3.
Students’ opinion on importance of writing skill 16 Table 3. Student’s opinion on frequencies and quantity or errors 16 Figure 3.3 Students’ opinion on the causes of errors 17 Table 3. Teachers’ opinion on the importance and difficulty of writing skill 17 Figure 3. Teachers’ opinion on frequencies of errors 18 Figure 3.
Teachers’ opinion on quantity of student error 18 Figure 3. Teachers’ opinion on causes of student errors 19 Table 3. Collected data about errors in students’ free writings 20 Table 3. Collected data about errors in students’ final writing tests 21 Table 3.
Comparative data about errors made by students 22 Table 3. Types of common errors in writings of the first year English major 22 students at UTEHY Figure 3.Students’ assessment on the importance of teacher’s error correction 24 Figure 3. Students’ opinion on how teachers correct errors 24 Figure 3. Students’ opinion on how much teachers correct errors 25 Table 3.
Students’ assessment on frequencies of error correction techniques 25 Table 3. Students’ assessment on effectiveness of error correction techniques 26 Figure 3.Teacher’s assessment on the importance of teacher’s error correction. The way teacher correct student’s errors 27 Figure3. Teacher’s assessment on the frequencies of using correction 27 Figure 3.
Teacher’s assessment on students’ improvement in writing 28 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS UTEHY : Hung Yen University of Technology and Education LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Rationale of the study Since Vietnam started its open door policy in 1986. The Government of Vietnam has stressed the importance of English as it is considered to play a crucial role on the country’s path of modernization and industrialization and integration. As a result, most learners are encouraged to learn English to have access to information and better interactions.
In the modern world, the ability to use English is an empowering tool, which increases access for professionals to information, technology and professional development. Moreover, the English language has rapidly become the most popular first foreign language among Vietnamese people, especially at schools, colleges and universities. English serves not only as a beneficial instrument for English major students but also as a beneficial instrument for non – English major ones. Writing skill plays the utmost role in learning English.
A proficient writing ability in second language enhances students’ logical way of thinking, thus facilitating students in meeting the requirements of almost every profession. However, to attain the proficiency in writing has long been a challenge consuming much energy and practice for almost second language learners. From my own experience as a teacher of English and my observation, it is a fact that Vietnamese students commit a great number of errors when they write in English whatever level they are at. After teaching at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education, for three years, I realize that most of the first year English students at UTEHY often make writing errors, especially in grammar.
With the hope to find out what types of errors they normally make so that appropriate solutions could be applied to improve the current situation through error correction, the author would like to carry out this study entitled “Common English writing errors made by English major students at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education and the significance of correcting errors to English writing teaching” 2. Aims of the study The study is aimed at investigating the common errors first year English major students make in writing at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education; and suggesting LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 some possible implications to aid teachers in correcting to students’ errors. To achieve this aim, answers to the following research questions are sought: 1. What are the common writing errors made by first year English major students at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education? 2.
What should teachers do to give effective correction which aims at improving students’ writing proficiency? 3. Scope of the study Due to the limited time and the restricted scope of study of a minor thesis, the study only focuses on identifying a number of common writing errors committed by first year English major students at UTEHY. Also, attempts are made to roughly measure the given students’ writing skill improvement after the errors have been corrected in the learning process 4. Methods of the study In order to conduct this paper, the writer has based on the following research instruments: Survey questionnaire Student writing analysis Observation 4.
Survey questionnaire To collect the information from teachers and students, one survey questionnaire is done with 60 students in 2 classes in Faculty of Foreign languages in Hung Yen University of Technology and Education and the other is used for 6 writing teachers in this university. The data collected for the survey questionnaire supplies the information about the common errors made by first year English major students, the fact of teachers’ correction and student’s improvement in writing after teacher’s correction. Writing analysis To have an insightfully look into the current situation of common errors made by first year English major students at HYUTE, the writer analyzed 30 papers written by the students. Observation LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 Observation is also applied to find out how the teachers correct students’ errors and how students’ writing improves after their errors are corrected.
All comments, remarks, and conclusion in the research are backed up by the data analysis. Design of the study The study consists of 3 main parts, organized as follows: Part A - Introduction- gives information about the topic of this paper, background to the study, the reason for choosing the topic, the aim, scope, and methods of study. An outline of the thesis is also mentioned in this chapter. Part B – Development – consists of three chapters, including Literature review, Methodology and Results and discussions Chapter I- Literature review – discusses the relevant theories related to writing, errors and error correction.
Chapter II- Methodology – will mention the 3 main research instruments employed in the study as well as data collection procedure. In chapter III- Results and discussions – the data colleted will be analyzed in order to find out the common errors made by first year English major students and the significance of error correction to teaching writing. Part C- Conclusion – provides some practical suggestions to help teachers in making error correction more effective in teaching writing. Some brief information about the limitations of the study and suggestions for further study will be also added here.
LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.Writing Many linguists give the definition of writing skill. However, it is difficult to choose which is the most exact and trustworthy. According to Flower (1984, p 16), “writing is simply the act of expressing what you think or saying what you mean” while Byrne (1988) considers writing as the “use of graphic symbols: that is, letters or combinations of letters” (p 1). He concludes that writing is the act of “forming these symbols; making marks on a flat surface of some kind”.
Nevertheless, on higher level, writing is a more complex process than the “production of graphic symbols” (Byrne, 1988, p 1). It involves the arrangement of symbols “according to certain convention, to form words and words have to be arranged to form sentences” (Byrne, 1988, p 1). Furthermore, writing is regarded as a productive and taught language skill which is “difficult to acquire” ( Tribble, 1996, p3) and “writing normally requires some form of instruction. It is not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure” (Tribble, 1996, p.
Thus, it is necessary for learners to study and practice to improve this skill as Ur (1996) stated that “most people acquire the spoken language intuitively, whereas the written form is in most cases deliberately taught and learned”. Regarding academic education, Taylor (1984, p 4) expresses that “the act of writing, upon examination, turns out to be a complex process wherein writers use language as a tool to discover and clarifying meaning on experience in order to say exactly what they mean”. In addition, Brannon, Knight and Neverow -Turk (1982, p 2) states that "writing is a creative art, not as an assembly line operation of locking words together into sentences and bolting sentences together into paragraphs in accordance with a predefined plan" In short, writing is a complex skill in second language learning because it requires the ability to communicate in target language and to produce text in order to express oneself efficiently. Therefore, academic writing requires conscious effort and much practice in composing, developing, and analyzing ideas.
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