ASSIGNMENT

JANUARY 2013 SEMESTER

SUBJECT CODE

ETW 431

SUBJECT TITLE

TEACHING WRITING IN THE ESL CONTEXT

LEVEL

B.Ed (TESL)

UMAHDEVI A/P NADARAJAN

MATRIC NO.

E30103110027

PROGRAMME

B.Ed TESL (BPG)

ACADEMIC
FACILITATOR

LEARNING CENTRE

STUDENTS NAME

KUALA LUMPUR

Question
Number

TOTALMARKS

INTRODUCTION

MARKS
1st
Examiner

2nd
Examiner

UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

What is Error Analysis?

Error analysis is a method used to document the systematic errors that appear in learner
language. Language teachers who listen to the speech of their students probably notice the errors
first. But the truth is that everyone makes errors in speaking, even native speakers and language
teachers. For example, most native speakers dont always follow the rules in the grammar books
we use to teach learners. Those book rules may be used only in formal contexts but not in
informal discourse, or they may not fit speakers from all geographic regions where the language
is spoken.
While native speakers make unsystematic performance errors (like slips of the tongue) from
time to time, or shift from formal to informal grammatical patterns in informal contexts, second
language learners make errors that no native speaker ever makes, errors that are systematic
violations of the linguistic patterns to which they have been exposed. An error analysis and
teacher corrections should ignore unsystematic performance slips (mistakes) and focus on
errors, which are systematic violations of the rules to which the learners have been exposed;
these tell us something about the learners current knowledge of the rules of the language being
learned. (Corder, 1981, p.10).
The Importance of Error Analysis
Errors are significant in three ways:

to the teacher: they show a students progress

to the researcher: they show how a language is acquired, what strategies the learner uses.

to the learner: he can learn from these errors.

Objectives
Teaching the English Grammar as a second language has its difficulties. One such difficulty
students would be having is trouble understanding the use of proper English grammar in their
writing. Students tent to make a cross reference of the second language grammar with their own
mother tongue and attempt to rationalise the meaning of the grammar.

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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

Hence, student often make simple grammatical errors and these errors reoccur across their entire
written materials. This project was conducted to assess the grammatical errors made by students
when they were given English written exercises. This report is to analyse the frequency and
percentage of students which make grammatical errors that are categorised into appropriate
classification schemes such as prepositions and tenses.
SAMPLING
This project required the selection of samples which consist of 30 students from the Standard 5.
These students are from a vernacular school which is SK Jalan U3,which is located in Pinggiran
Subang. These students come from various backgrounds and therefore have different language
abilities. The following students were chosen as the sampling:1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Siti Norasmirahshima bt Jamal

Nurin Kamilia bt Mohd Nafis
Nuren Irwan bt Norraysham
Nur Aina Nafiisah bt Mohd Hafie
Alia Najiha bt Ahmad Kamal
Muhammad Akmal Bin Anuar
Afisya Hannani bt Mohd Huszaini
Muhammad Safwan Bin Mohd Noor
Nordaiya bt Dahari
Nur Faqihah Amani
Amirah Qistiha bt Amir Hamzah
Putri Mirza Syazwina bt Sharuddin
Aiif Aiman Haikal bin Abd Halim
Mohd Faizizahri bin Mohd Faizal
Aqil Danish Bin Muhd Rizal

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

Ahmad Muttaqin
Muhammad Firdaus Bin Redzuan
Muhammad Zuhairi Helmi
Ahmad Ikhwan bin Mohd Sahar
Afiq Farhan
Muhammad Ajmal Haziq
Muhammad Adam Danial bin Ahmad
Khaizal Nul Hakiem
Noor Hareez Farhan

SAMPLE STUDENT BIODATA

Siti Norasmirahshima bt Jamal
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

2- Fair

ETW 431 TEACHING WRITING IN THE ESL CONTEXT

3- Good

4- Excellent
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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

of Student:
Nurin Kamilia bt Mohd Nafis
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

of Student:
Nuren Irwan bt Norraysham
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Nur Aina Nafiisah bt Mohd Hafie
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Alia Najiha bt Ahmad Kamal
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Muhammad Akmal Bin Anuar
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Afisya Hannani bt Mohd Huszaini
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

Proficiency

1- Poor

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

of Student:
Muhammad Safwan Bin Mohd Noor
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Nordaiya bt Dahari
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Nur Faqihah Amani
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:

Amirah Qistiha bt Amir Hamzah

Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Putri Mirza Syazwina bt Sharuddin
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Aiif Aiman Haikal bin Abd Halim
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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

Level of

Likert Scale:

English
Proficiency

1- Poor

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

of Student:
Mohd Faizizahri bin Mohd Faizal
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Aqil Danish Bin Muhd Rizal
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:

Ahmad Muttaqin
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Muhammad Firdaus Bin Redzuan
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Muhammad Zuhairi Helmi
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

of Student:
Ahmad Ikhwan bin Mohd Sahar
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

of Student:
Afiq Farhan
Level of

Likert Scale:

English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:

Muhammad Ajmal Haziq

Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Muhammad Adam Danial bin Ahmad
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Khaizal Nul Hakiem
Level of
Likert Scale:
English
Proficiency

1- Poor

of Student:
Noor Hareez Farhan
Level of
Likert Scale:
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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

English
Proficiency

1- Poor

2- Fair

3- Good

4- Excellent

of Student:

CLASSIFICATION SCHEME
The grammar analysis report of this project is based several classification schemes that consist of
tenses, articles and prepositions. These are some of the most commonly occurring and
reoccurring mistakes in a composition. Moving on, these classification schemes will be
explained in order to understand its usage in composition writing.
PREPOSITIONS
A preposition is a word or group of words that is placed before a noun or a pronoun
to show a relationship in a sentence. Below are some examples of how prepositions
are used in sentences based on some illustrations.

Preposition
inside

Example
John, Jason and Jack are sitting inside the bumper car.

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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

Preposition
on top of

Example
The bumper cars are on top of the arena.

Preposition
at

Example
The bumper arena opens at 10.00am daily.

When we take a closer look at these prepositions, it indicates that some prepositions express
direction or movement. Other prepositions express location or time. Let us take a closer loo into
the use of prepositions in direction and movement.
Direction or Movement

Abu walks into the locker room.

Abu walks out of the locker room.

The prepositions into and out of , often express direction or movement of

someone or something, usually from one place to another.
Location
Preposition
in

Example
The rally will be held in the stadium.

under

Thomas and Jane are sitting under the tree.

The prepositions in and under indicate the location of someone or something.

Time
Preposition
on

Example
My wifes birthday falls on Labour Day.

at

Thomas is attending a wedding at 6.00pm.

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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

The preposition at can be used for both to indicate event time and the time on the clock. The
prepositions on, at and in can be used to refer to time.
There are many commonly used prepositions in sentences that are shown below.
Frequently Used Prepositions
across
down
into
out

after
for
near
out of

at
from
of
over

before
in
off
to

behind
inside
on
with

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
A prepositional phrase consists of two distinct parts. The rst part is the preposition itself. The
second part, which follows the preposition, is a noun or pronoun that is called the object of the
preposition.
Example:
Susan is hiking with Thomas.
with Thomas = prepositional phrase
ARTICLES
The indefinite article a (or an used before a noun starting with a vowel) signals that the noun is indefinite.
It can refer to any member of a group as opposed to one particular member.
Examples:

a boy
an apple
General

an ox
an elephant

(article an is used with words starting with a,e,i,o,u)

an ice cream
an umbrella
The definite article the is used before a singular noun when the noun is
particular or specific.
Specific

Example: the boy

The definite article the is also used before a plural noun when the noun is particular or

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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

specific.

Example: the boys

TENSES
Tenses are verbs that are used to indicate action which is happening at the present and action
which occurred in the past. Therefore we have the Present Tense and Past Tense.
The present simple tense is used for:
The permanent states:
I am English (and I always will be English).
I work in Valencia (I do now and will do for the foreseeable future).
I teach English.
To indicate habits and routines:
I drive to work every day (its part of my daily routine).
I dont wear white shoes (its my habit not to).
I like going to the cinema at weekends.
To indicate permanent truths and facts:

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Water boils at 100C (212F in case you wanted to know).
New technology makes it easier to learn English.
The present continuous tense is used for:
To indicate actions happening at the moment of speaking:
I'm sitting in front of the computer.
The phones ringing.
I'm trying to think of another example to put here.
To indicate actions happening around the moment of speaking:
Im learning French (not at this moment, but Ive got a class tomorrow).
Im doing a lot of revision for my exams (but not right now).
I'm seeing a lot of my brother at the moment (but he's not here now).

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UMAHDEVI NADARAJAN (E30103110027)

To indicate descriptions:
People are sitting on the caf terrace.
The traffic is making a lot of noise.
She's wearing a red dress.
To indicate temporary situations:

Im staying with my grandparents while my parents are away.

My brother is using the metro because his car is being repaired.
I'm sleeping in the spare room because I'm decorating my bedroom.
The past simple tense is used:
To talk about completed actions in the past:
My brother got a new job in Madrid last week.
What did he say when you told him?
Shakespeare died in 1616.
To talk about habits in the past:
We always had roast beef on Sundays when I was a boy.
We never went abroad for our holidays until the 1970s.
I travelled by bus until I passed my driving test.
To talk about events that happened one after the other:
He jumped out of bed, ran into the bathroom and slammed the door.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
The past continuous tense is used:
To talk about an activity in progress at a particular time in the past:
What were you doing at 9 o'clock on the night of the murder?
At 9 o'clock I was getting the dinner ready.
At 2 o'clock everyone was having lunch.
To describe a situation or activity:
Cars were speeding past and people were hurrying towards the station.
It was raining so hard that everyone was sheltering in doorways.
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He was wearing his best suit.
When a past action is interrupted by a shorter action:
I was walking along the road when it started to rain.
Someone knocked on the door as I was getting dressed.
I was wondering what to do when the phone rang.
When a past action takes place during another, longer past action or state:
She was living in Madrid when she met her husband.
I decided to give up smoking while I was working in the hospital.
I was learning Arabic when I got the chance to visit Egypt

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FINDINGS & ANALYSIS OF DATA

The report required the researcher to give out composition exercises to the 15 sample students
and the compositions were collected and analysed to determine the frequency of the errors based
on the classification schemes which was predetermine.
The frequency table below will show the frequency of errors made by each student in the each
classification scheme:Student
Siti Norasmirahshima bt Jamal
Nurin Kamilia bt Mohd Nafis
Nuren Irwan bt Norraysham
Nur Aina Nafiisah bt Mohd Hafie
Alia Najiha bt Ahmad Kamal
Muhammad Akmal Bin Anuar
Afisya Hannani bt Mohd Huszaini
Muhammad Safwan Bin Mohd Noor
Nordaiya bt Dahari
Nur Faqihah Amani
Amirah Qistiha bt Amir Hamzah
Putri Mirza Syazwina bt Sharuddin
Aiif Aiman Haikal bin Abd Halim
Mohd Faizizahri bin Mohd Faizal
Aqil Danish Bin Muhd Rizal
Siti Norasmirahshima bt Jamal
Nurin Kamilia bt Mohd Nafis
Nuren Irwan bt Norraysham
Nur Aina Nafiisah bt Mohd Hafie
Alia Najiha bt Ahmad Kamal
Muhammad Akmal Bin Anuar
Ahmad Muttaqin
Muhammad Firdaus Bin Redzuan
Muhammad Zuhairi Helmi
Ahmad Ikhwan bin Mohd Sahar
Afiq Farhan
Muhammad Ajmal Haziq
Muhammad Adam Danial bin Ahmad
Khaizal Nul Hakiem
Noor Hareez Farhan

CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES
Prepositions
Articles
Tenses
1
1
2
3
2
3
4
3
4
2
1
4
2
3
2
3
1
4
1
1
5
1
1
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
3
3
4
1
3
5
1
1
4
2
3
1
2
3
3
3
3
4
2
2
3
2
3
3
3
3
4
1
3
5
1
1
4
2
3
3
3
3
4
1
3
5
1
1
4
1
3
3
1
1
4
2
3
3
3
3
4
1
3
5

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ETG 433 TEACHING GRAMMAR IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

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DISCUSSION
From the data collected in the findings, it is found that the sample students made must of the
grammatical errors in tenses. Most of the students are inclined to make mistakes in using tenses
because some verbs differ in the spelling when those verbs are in present simple, present
continuous, past simple and past continuous. The difference in spelling may cause these students
to mix-up the verbs in certain tense form. The use of tenses can only be mastered through
frequent practice in writing compositions and sentence writing exercises.
Another reason for the high frequency in grammatical errors especially in tenses could be due to
the background the students. Those students having parents with basic education may not be able
to coach their children in using proper English. The children are inclined to pick-up the
proficiency of the English language from home. Therefore, if the parents have low language
proficiency hence the children may have the same. However, students coming from parents with
higher education are inclined to have better English language proficiency. Nevertheless, such
need to be coached by the teacher and parents in using proper English such as the proper use of
tenses.
On the other hand, vernacular school students may have problems in English because of the
number of contact hours on the English language as well as the content of the syllabus. In
vernacular school, the contact hours for the mother-tongue language is higher and therefore the
syllabus will gives more importance to writing skill in the mother language. The contact hours
for the English language are reduced thus reducing the exposure to writing skills. The English
syllabus should give more importance to writing skills in the higher standards in order to provide
a secure foundation for the primary school students to progress to the secondary school.

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