AN EVALUATION OF SYNTACTIC ERRORS IN WRITTEN COMPOSITION OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MANGU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page……………………………………………………………………………………………………………i

Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………………………………ii

Approval Page…………………………………………………………………………………………………….iii

Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..iv

Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………………………………v

Table of contents…………………………………………………………………………………………………vi

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………vii

                             CHAPTER ONE

                             INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study……………………………………………………………………………….1

1.2 Statement of the problem……………………………………………………………………………..3

1.3 Purpose of the study………………………………………………………………………………………3

1.4 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………………………….3

1.5 Significance of the study………………………………………………………………………………..4

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the study………………………………………………………………….4

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms…………………………………………………………………….5

CHAPTER TWO

                             LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. The concept of Error………………………………………………………………….6

2.2.Differences between Errors and Mistakes…………………………………..7

2.3. Causes of Errors………………………………………………………………………….8

2.4. The Concept of Syntactic Error……………………………………………………10

2.5.Types of Syntactic Errors………………………………………………………………11

2.6.Concept of English Composition and Essay………………………………….26

2.7.Syntactic Errors in the written English of Second Language

Learners…………………………………………………………………………………………….30

2.8.Causes of Syntactic Errors……………………………………………………………33

2.9.Summary of Literature Review…………………………………………………….33

CHAPTER THREE

3.1 Research Design…………………………………………………………………………..34

3.2 Population, Sample and Sampling Technique……………………………….34

3.3 Instrument for Data Collection……………………………………………………..35

3.4 Description of the Instrument………………………………………………………36

3.5 Validity of the Instrument…………………………………………………………….36

3.6Method of Data analysis………………………………………………………………36

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DICUSSION

4.1 Analysis of Data…………………………………………………………………………39

4.2 Summary of the Average of Syntactic Error……………………………….44

4.3 Discussion of Results………………………………………………………………….45

                             CHAPTER FIVE:SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary of the Findings……………………………………………………………..47

5.2 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………47

5.3 Recommendations……………………………………………………………………….48

Reference

Appendix

ABSTRACT

This research was carried out in order to determine the effect of syntactic errors on the writing skills of students in senior secondary schools in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State. The research design adopted was the descriptive research. The population of the study consisted of all the SS 2 students in four selected schools. The sample of the study was 80 students. The instrument used for the collection of data was the test. The method of data analysis was the simple table percentage and mean score. The findings indicated that syntactic errors greatly affect student’s performance in English composition and possibly other subjects with the total average score of 49.48, syntactic errors are inevitable in students’ composition, though the degree of occurrence of each varies; hence in Mangu Local Government Area, students are more likely to be victims of subject-verb agreement error and tense error with the highest percentage of 50% which could be as a result of weak guidance attitude of English teachers in the Local Government or poor study habit developed by the students in regards to concord and tenses in essays. In the light of the findings, the following recommendations were made among others: first of all, there should be a vigorous approach to the teaching of grammar at all levels of our education system, grammar periods should be increased, students should be made to use English more often since language proficiency comes with constant practice.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

            Writing is one of the productive skills in language learning. It is the process of putting sounds, word and sentences together in conventional patterns. The mechanisms of writing comprise of grammar, sentence structure and organization of the writing. Errors are factors that affect language learning they can be reflected in students’ writing or written compositions.

It is true that non­-native speakers (second language learners) are prone to committing syntactic errors. They find English rules very complicated because some language features such as: vocabulary, spelling, sentence construction e.t.c in their mother tongue are different from those of the target language. These make it difficult for them to express themselves in a clear, correct and comprehensible manner of writing. Duky  (1982), Gorbet (1979) and Corder (1981) believe that learning errors should be categorized, and the psychological process of how learners commit such errors should be studied. All learners make mistakes, even when they are using their mother tongue. Elis and Tomlinson (1980; p.259) defined an error as “when a language learner unconsciously breaks the written rules of the target language as a result of faulty learning, he makes an errors. Duky (1982) in Brown (1994: 205) states that an error is a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker. It means that learners make errors because they lack knowledge of the rules of the target language.

            The classification between errors and mistakes are hardly identified; mistakes occur when students use a lexical items but get it wrong: it is performance based and can be self corrected. On the other hand, when learners use the same wrong vocabulary repeatedly, then they are certainly making errors. However, in this study, mistakes and errors will not be differentiated. That is, all mistakes will be counted as errors. Although in everyday life, the term “error” and “mistake” may sometimes be used interchangeably especially when they are referring to the same language phenomenon in learners’ performance. In writing, correct English usage is very important for every student (Azi, 2017). A student who uses English with minimal errors tends to communicate more effectively than students whose written English are full of errors. In other words, the ability to use English effectively in writing by minimizing errors is an advantage to users of English language in general and students in particular.

            However, errors are of utmost importance when marking students’ writing. Teachers of English are expected to begin their marking with interest concerning errors because the aim of teaching English is to minimize errors in learners’ use of the language so as to improve their language proficiency right from the beginning. Interestingly, many teachers do not necessarily mark single errors in students’ written works. Many language teachers and researchers treat errors as the most important factor in language learning, since they believe that error reduction leads to improvement (Witley, 2013).

            Grammatical accuracy refers to how correct learners use of language system is, including their use of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar whether in dialogue or writing. On the other hand, syntactic errors are those mistakes that students make in any form of composition which mar the meaning of the message they are trying to put across. And so, in every writing (composition), the examiner considers the following; content, expression, organization and mechanical accuracy which give wholistic assessment of every composition, thereby conforming to English standard. 

1.2 Statement of the Problem

            There are so many errors associated with students writing or composition. Haswell (1988:479-494) has defined four surface errors in students’ compositions as: misinformation of possessives, sentence fragments, comma splices, misplaced modifiers and misspelling. Too many errors in students’ writing make communication in language ineffective. The researcher, at the course of teaching practice, came across different kinds of errors made by students in their written composition. This prompted the researcher to carry out this research to proffer solutions on how to reduce errors to the barest minimum. This research work is aimed at coming up with answers to the problems of common syntactic errors in written English of the students in senior secondary schools in Mangu.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

            The aim of this research work is to broadly assess syntactic errors in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State which would be achieved under these specific objectives:

1. Find out the kind of syntactic errors to made by students in senior secondary school.
2. Find out the effects of syntactic errors on students’ writing skills
3. Identify the factors responsible of syntactic errors committed by students and proffer solutions to it.

1.4 Research Questions

                        The study aims at answering the following questions:

1. What are the common syntactic errors committed by students of senior secondary schools in writing?
2. To what extent do syntactic errors affect students’ performance in English composition?
3. What are the factors responsible for syntactic errors committedby senior secondary school students?

1.5 Significance of the Study

            This work is very vital as the researcher’s findings will go a long way to bring in to focus solutions to the prevalence of syntactic errors in senior secondary school students English composition. In the same way, the study will give an insight to the teacher on how to effectively treat and provide guidance to senior secondary school students in grammatical accuracy. This research will also help schools and curriculum planners to plan the curriculum in such a way that it will help the students to understand and eliminate or reduce to the barest minimum of syntactic errors in their compositions.

1.6 Scope/Limitation of the Study

            The researcher intends to study the effects of syntactic errors on senior secondary school students’ performance in written composition in Mangu local Government area of plateau state. The researcher also wishes to test the effects of syntactic errors in students’ essay writing because it is an aspect of composition that is mostly taught in senior secondary schools. The aspects of syntactic errors that will be examined in the students’ composition are: Run-on sentence, subject verb agreement, misplaced or dangling modifier, and tense error.

            Furthermore, the researcher will only use only 80 SS2 students in four senior secondary schools in Mangu Local Government Area. SS2 students are preferred because it is believed that they are taught all the aspects of composition in preparation for their final exams in SS 3. Moreover, four schools were selected because the local Government is very large, with about 50 secondary schools and any attempt to cover the entire local government will result to time shortage and money constraints.

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms

Errors:errors can be defined as acts that had been performed as a result of bad judgment. It is a deviation from accuracy or correctness or can even be defined as the holding of mistaken opinions.

Mistake: can be defined as a misguided or wrong judgment, opinion or act.

Syntactic Error:are persistent mistakes that students make in writing such as: sentence fragment, misplaced modifier e.t.c that render their work inaccurate or sometimes ambiguous.