scholarly journals Common Grammatical Errors in Written Discourse of EFL Iraqi Learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Doaa Faris Al-shammery ◽  
Azar Huesiani ◽  
Hesamoddin Shahriari
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Written Production ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Linguistic System ◽  
Grammatical Errors ◽  
The Common

The current study was an attempt to explore the common grammatical errors in written discourse of EFL Iraqi learners across gender. To this end, five male and five female Iraqi EFL academic learners with the same proficiency level were randomly selected. The participants were supposed to write a descriptive composition on a common topic.  Findings showed Iraqi EFL learners made various errors in the following categories including tenses, prepositions, articles, active and passive voice, verbs and morphological error. It has been  found that most of these errors caused by the effect of grammatical and linguistic system of participants’ first language on their written production of the target language.

scholarly journals The Effect of English Passive Voice Learning on the Use of “Bei” Structure: An Empirical Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 197
Author(s):  
Min Cao
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
First Language ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
L1 And L2

<p>This paper conducts an empirical investigation among English foreign language (EFL) learners at a university in China, mainly on their understanding of the passive voice in their native language to verify the existence of backward transfer in their first language (L1) environment and how backward transfer may relate to the learners’ proficiency of second language (L2) English and L1 Chinese in the sentence translation task (STT) and discourse task (DT) of Chinese paragraph writing. The study shows that backward transfer does exist at STT or sentence level in L1 environment. Additionally, the Chinese participants at intermediate English proficiency level are likely to experience backward transfer from L2 English to L1 Chinese. Moreover, for EFL learners at the lower and top English proficiency level no obvious signs of backward transfer shown at the sentence level. And all of the EFL participants have not been influenced by L2 English in the Chinese discourse task. The results of this study convey the complexity of backward transfer and its interactions with L1 and L2 proficiency and different tasks.</p>

An Exploration of Grammatical Errors in Written English of Libyan EFL Students with Special Reference to Arabic as their First-Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 07-25
Author(s):  
Ahmed Sanoussi Himeda Al Jawad ◽  
Asma Abdalrahman Mansour
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
First Language ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Arts And Sciences ◽  
Form Errors ◽  
Grammatical Errors ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Teaching Grammar

This study focuses on an exploration of grammatical errors in written English of Libyan EFL students with special reference to Arabic as their first language. One of the most important factors that negatively affect EFL students' writing is grammatical errors. Several studies have looked at grammatical errors made by learners of English as a foreign language. Some studies have reported that L1 interference has been indicated as an important factor in the commission of such errors. The current study explores the phenomenon of EFL learners making grammatical errors. It also examines whether the time spent learning English and using English in daily life positively affects a student's writing (fewer grammatical errors appear). In addition, it examines whether first language interference leads to errors by Arab learners in particular. Data was collected from 30 EFL participants studying in Faculty of Arts and Sciences Kufrah- Benghazi University by writing an essay, in English, about the students themselves, their families, and the cities where they live in. The subjects also answered a Grammar Recognition Test. The results of this study indicated that the subjects made 205 errors in 10 different grammatical areas, the highest number of errors found in using articles, the second was word/verb form errors, whereas the third was preposition-related errors. Furthermore, errors of active and passive voice, plural, word order, tense, 3rd person morpheme, and copula “be”. The analysis of these results indicated that the appearance of these errors was more common among learners who have less time learning the language as well as who use the language less in their daily life. Furthermore, the results also revealed that Arab EFL learners tend to translate directly from Arabic to English; in this case, L1 interference appears to be a reason for committing grammatical errors by the Arabs. Moreover, students 'lack of competence in English plays an important role in such an occurrence. The study concludes by giving some suggestions for teaching grammar and reducing the occurrence of errors in this area.

scholarly journals The cross-linguistic influence of Arabic on the English passive voice

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 182-190
Author(s):  
Fatma Ali Lghzeel ◽  
Noor Raha Mohd Radzuan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Target Language ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Efl Learners

It is difficult to describe cross-linguistic influence; however, it has been a contentious phenomenon for a long time. Whenever the speaker of a language becomes bilingual, the first language will subtly affect the new one, even if it is not used much. This is how first language influence begins since the majority of Arab English as a foreign language (EFL) learners suffer from this problem. This current research aims to study the negative influence of the native language (Arabic) on utilising the English passive voice. In this article, we aim to discover the levels of Arab EFL learners’ knowledge of the passive voice, as well as to examine the percentage of interlingual and intralingual errors. This study applies a quantitative method. Forty-six participants, who are Arab EFL learners studying at the Universiti Malaysia Pahang, engaged in the task of answering a grammar test. To conclude, the results show that Arab students have a high rate of L1 transfer on the English passive voice, and their levels of knowledge of passive voice are identified. The researchers recommend mixed methods for further research in order to provide a wider understanding about this issue.   Keywords: English as a foreign language, mother tongue, native language, target language.

scholarly journals “How the Furby Coming is…”: Interference of First Language and Culture in Thai EFL Learners’ Paragraph Writing

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Sakulrat Worathumrong
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Target Language ◽  
High Exposure ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Low Exposure ◽  
Analysis Models

This study investigated features of first language and cultural interference in Thai EFL learners&rsquo; English paragraph writing on popular culture. Drawing from theoretical grounds of interlanguage, language interference, and rhetorical interference, the sample of 30 English paragraphs of Thai EFL undergraduate learners was examined quantitatively and qualitatively. The English writing included 15 paragraphs from the Thai learners with high exposure to English language (TEH) group, and 15 paragraphs from those with the low exposure to English language (TEL) group. Using analysis models of metadiscourse markers and topical progressions, the findings revealed the preference of both groups in the use of interactive and interactional devices as well as SP, PP, and EPP types of topical progressions. The preference highlights the feature of oral-based, inductive, or reader-responsible writing orientation with a possibility of writing development, especially among the TEHs to reach expectation of the target language readers. The findings encourage assessing the Thai EFL learners&rsquo; writing as a process and raising frequent awareness of both language and rhetorical interferences when writing English texts. As the introductory stage during COVID-19 remote learning, writing to express learners&rsquo; interests could be used as an effective communication strategy for a positive instructor-learner relationship which assists the learners to further engage in the class in a more meaningful way.&nbsp;

scholarly journals Cross-Sectional Study of Refusal Speech Act Used by Iraqi Undergraduate Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-173
Author(s):  
Hutheifa Y. Turki ◽  
Juma’a Q. Hussein ◽  
Ahmed A. Al-Kubaisy
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Arabic And English ◽  
Refusal Strategies

This paper is conducted to investigate how Iraqi EFL learners refuse different speech acts across different proficiency levels. It aims to examine the most appropriate strategies used by 2nd year students of English as compared to those of 4th year when refusing their interlocutors' invitation, suggestion, and offer. WDCT questionnaire was used to collect data from 40 Iraqi undergraduate students of English: 20 2nd year and 20 4th year. Adopting Beebe et al.'s (1990) theory of refusal, data collected was analyzed quantitatively using statistical analysis. The findings revealed that the 2nd year students of English were more frequent in using direct refusals than their 4th year counterparts. This means the latter were more aware of using refusals politely than the former. On the other hand, the findings showed that 4th year students more frequent in their use of indirect refusal strategies that the 2nd year students. This indicates that the EFL learners of low proficiency level might not bridge the gap between the pragmalinguistic strategies and the grammatical form of the target language. This means that they were not pragmatically competent of the use of the appropriate pragmalinguistic strategies. This implies that the 2nd year students need to pay more attention to pragmatics and use their refusal strategies appropriately. Thus, the paper recommends conducting further research on the use of refusal speech act in Arabic and English.

scholarly journals A Survey on the Effectiveness of Mother Tongue on Learning L2 Vocabulary by Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Mohammadreza Khodareza ◽  
Maryam Kaviani
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proposal A ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Objective Structures ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
Learning English

<p>This study investigated the role of mother tongue on learning English vocabulary by Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. For this purpose, 30 female pre-intermediate learners were chosen. After administering a Nelson test participants were selected from the intact classes at Foreign Language Institute in Babol. These 30 partners were randomly allocated to 2 gatherings (one laboratory and the other control) each comprising of 15 partners. The participants received a pre-test comprising 70 English words to ensure that they did not have previous information of objective structures. Experimental group received their instruction, meaning of each target word, and translation of target words with their mother tongue (Persian). But control group just received target language (English) for all activities or instructions. Both teacher and students in this group didn’t allow using Persian. After the treatment, the same pre-test was given to the participants as a post-test to measure the effectiveness of therapy gained. After collecting the data, to respond the research proposal, a t-test was conducted. The results indicated that first language had significant effect on learning English words. The findings of this study are considered to be useful in methodology issue.</p>

scholarly journals COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THE USE OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: A CASE IN STUDENTS’ UNDERGRADUATE THESES

LITERA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bambang Sugeng
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Common Core ◽  
Potential Solution ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Grammatical Errors ◽  
The Common ◽  
Thesis Writing ◽  
Undergraduate Thesis

This study aims to find out the multitude of students’ grammatical errors in their undergraduate theses and the learning materials needed to counter this problem. Thestudy was a survey involving 228 undergraduate theses from 28 English study programsfrom 17 out of the 34 provinces in Indonesia. Data analysis included grouping, counting,and ranking the data. The findings show that errors rank as follows: verb groups, finiteverbs, subject-verb concords, predicates, concords of nouns, concords of numbers, clauses,passive voice, and word choices. The common-core grammar materials, which containinter-lingual implications, are recommended to be used as a potential solution to improve the quality of undergraduate thesis writing for students of the English study program.Keywords: inter-language, grammatical errors, common-core grammar

scholarly journals NATIVE AND TARGET LANGUAGE INFLUENCE ON THE STUDENTS’ INTERLANGUAGE PRODUCTION: A CASE OF INDONESIAN EFL COMPOSITIONS

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Endang Fauziati Fauziati
Keyword(s):  
Error Analysis ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
Linguistic System ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Learner Language ◽  
Language Influence

English compositions written by Indonesian EFL students contain erroneous sentences which portray learner language. The errors are neither of their native language nor the target language, but containing linguistic system from both. This is called an interlanguage. This study focuses on one of interlanguage features, that is, permeability, meaning the susceptibility of interlanguages to infiltration by first language and target language rules or forms. It aims to provide empirical evidence of the permeability of the students’ interlanguage production by describing the types and degree of the native and target language influence and explaining the possible causes of the influences. The data were 264 ill-formed sentences elicited from their English free compositions. Error analysis and interlanguage analysis were used as framework for collecting, identifying, describing, and explaining the data. The results indicate that their interlanguage production was influenced by their native language and the target language at both lexical and syntactical level. The dominant native language influence was on vocabulary (i.e. Indonesian borrowings) and the target language influence was on grammar (i.e. verb tenses). The native language influence had a little lower frequency compared with that of the target language. The main source of the influence was their possession of two language systems in their mind was activated regardless of their intention to use one language only. The native language influence was due to the good mastery of the native language and the limited knowledge of the target language. The target language influence was due to the learning strategy used.

scholarly journals AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ERRORS IN TRANSFORMING ACTIVE TO PASSIVE SENTENCE

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-60
Author(s):  
Lina Septianasari
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Private University ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Grammatical Errors ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Passive Sentence ◽  
English Students ◽  
Made In

Passive voice is one of the important English grammar that should be mastered because it is used at formal and informal communication. The EFL students tend to produce grammatical errors in transforming active to the passive sentence because of syntactical interference of their first language. The objectives of this research are to know the types of errors that students made in transforming active to passive sentences, to know the students' problems in transforming active to passive sentences and to know the proportion of the students' errors. The subject of this research is 20 English students at one private university in Lampung. The result of this research shows that the total number of errors that had been committed by the students based on surface strategy taxonomy is 280 errors, which falls into the following proportion of the four kinds of errors in surface strategy taxonomy: 126 errors of omission error, 18 errors of addition error, 120 errors of misformation error, and 16 errors of misordering error.

scholarly journals Interlanguage Driven by Bilingual Abstract Lexical Structure

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Longxing Wei
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
First Language ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic System ◽  
Lexical Structure ◽  
Predicate Argument Structure ◽  
Developing System ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Study Offer

This study explores the nature of interlanguage (IL) in terms of bilingual abstract lexical structure and its role in the formulation and development of IL as learners’ developing linguistic system. Adopting the Bilingual Lemma Activation Model (BLAM) (Wei, 2002, 2003), it assumes that IL is a composite developing linguistic system because at different times different linguistic systems are in contact, such as learners’ first language (L1), the developing IL, and the target language (TL), and each contributes different amounts to the developing system of IL. The important claim of this study is that the mental lexicon contains abstract entries, called “lemmas”, which contain pieces of information about particular lexemes, and the bilingual mental lexicon contains language-specific lemmas, which are in contact in IL speech production. The other important claim of this study is that IL is fundamentally driven by bilingual abstract lexical structure, which contains several discrete but interacting subsystems: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns, and such an abstract lexical structure in IL may have different sources, such as those from learners’ L1 and/or the TL. The typical instances of learner errors discussed in this study offer some evidence that IL is a composite developing linguistic system.

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