Analysis of Syntactic Errors in English Writing: A Case Study of Jazan University Preparatory Year Students

Abstract

The present study focuses on the most common syntactic errors which Arabic speaking learners in Preparatory Year, Jazan University (Saudi Arabia) face in learning English as a foreign language. The results of this study reveal that the most common syntactic errors made by the learners are in sentence structure; subject verb agreement, tense, auxiliary verb, number, use of conjunction, preposition, article, etc. Many students in this study were categorized as slow learners who were not even aware of the importance of writing skill. Non-seriousness and less concentration of learners result errors and mistakes in their writing. In addition to that, the errors were hypothetically associated to the transfer of mother tongue and over generalization. In the Arab context, writing is not an easy task; it is, indeed, a challenging job for the teacher. Therefore, traditional methodologies do not help. Unless the teachers create interest about writing skill in the minds of the learners, the desired results can’t be achieved. For the present study, the researchers used the primary source. Different colleges at Jazan University were selected for data collection. The students were tested by asking to write compositions on different topics related to their academic or day to day life. Analysis of previous answer scripts was also a part of study to trace out a common pattern or a series of errors made by the students.

Keywords: Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Writing skill, Syntactic errors, Error analysis