Error Analysis of English Essays of Bangladeshi Undergraduate Learners

Abstract

Making an error is a common issue among students in any context. In Bangladesh, it is more crucial to deal with the errors made by the students at different levels, especially at the tertiary level. The study's objectives are to identify the common errors made by the first-year English honors students, the reasons for making the errors, and the possible ways to solve them. The qualitative research method is used throughout the study. Three research instruments, including a codebook for analyzing the essays, a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) question set for FGD with the students, and an in-depth interview question set, are used to collect the necessary data. Data is collected from the content analysis of 30 English essays written by the first-year students of the English department, three FGDs with 18 students, and in-depth interviews with nine English essay writing teachers. The study's major findings show that students make errors in spelling, punctuation, mechanics, preposition, subject-verb agreement, the right form of verb, parallelism, and modifiers. The major reasons for making the errors are as follows: having weaker foundation knowledge of the English language, negligence to learn the correct usage of English, unconsciousness while writing an essay, excessive use of informal English in social media tools, and lack of practice in the areas to improve. The teachers consider that providing corrective feedback, providing additional supports besides regular class schedules, assigning more practice writing, peer correction, and inspiration can help reduce the number of errors made by the students. This study also asserts that the social constructivist theory is applicable in reducing errors.