Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS common grammatical errors made by 12th graders in their writings a study at an upper secondary school in bac ninh province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* TRẦN TRỌNG CƯƠNG COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS MADE BY 12TH GRADERS IN THEIR WRITINGS: A STUDY AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (NHỮNG LỖI NGỮ PHÁP PHỔ BIẾN MÀ HỌC SINH LỚP 12 THƯỜNG MẮC PHẢI TRONG CÁC BÀI VIẾT: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG THPT Ở BẮC NINH) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English language teaching methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi – 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* TRẦN TRỌNG CƯƠNG COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS MADE BY 12TH GRADERS IN THEIR WRITINGS: A STUDY AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE (NHỮNG LỖI NGỮ PHÁP PHỔ BIẾN MÀ HỌC SINH LỚP 12 THƯỜNG MẮC PHẢI TRONG CÁC BÀI VIẾT: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG THPT Ở BẮC NINH) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English language teaching methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I certify that the thesis entitled “COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS MADE BY 12TH GRADERS IN THEIR WRITINGS: A STUDY AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Art at University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution Hanoi, 2017 Trần Trọng Cương i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been materialized without the help of many people, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to them My first thanks go to my supervisor, Prof Dr Hoang Van Van, for his constant encouragement and invaluable assistance during the process of carrying out this project I am grateful to all the lecturers at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, VNU University of Languages and International Studies for providing us with knowledge from precious and helpful lectures My sincere thanks are reserved for all my students and my colleagues at Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School (NDDUS) for their helpful contributions and co-operation in this study Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks are also reserved for my family and friends for their love and support that have encouraged me a lot in carrying out this study ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT As teachers teaching English writing skills, we have always hoped that through teaching our students are able to produce an organized, neat and error-free piece of writing, but this seems to be a lifelong dream for us The purpose of this study is to find out common grammatical errors committed by the twelve-form students at NDDUS in their writings The study was carried out in NDDUS with 90 12th form students involving in The data showed that the greatest number of errors committed by our students is verb tenses and aspects, sentence structures, articles, prepositions and nouns The causes of those mistakes are numerous; but two are representative: student‟s lack of understanding of English grammar and, in particular, their lack of writing practice They not have time and environment to practise English outside the classroom; they have quite vague knowledge of grammar; and accordingly they are not sure whether they write correct English From the findings, some pedagogical suggestions are offered to improve the learning of grammar of twelve graders at NDDUS It is hoped that this study would make a small contribution to the study of errors analysis in foreign language teaching in Vietnamese schools iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION ……………………………… …………………… 1 Rationale ………………………………………………… ………………… Aims and Objectives of the Study ………………… ……………………… 2.1 Aim of the Study …………………………… ………………………… 2.2 Objectives of the Study …………………… ……………… 3 Research Questions ………………… ……………………………………….3 Scope of the Study …… …………………………………………………… Methods of the Study ……… ……………………………………………… Significance of the Study ……… ………………………………………… Design of the Study ……………… ……………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT ………… ……………………………………… CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW… ……………………………………….5 1.1 Grammar ……………………………………………………………… 1.1.1 Definitions of Grammar……………………………………………….5 1.1.2 Scope of Grammar…………………………………………………….6 1.1.2.1 Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum……………………………7 1.1.2.2 Richard Hudson………………………….………………………… 1.1.2.3 Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freemen…… ……….10 1.1.2.4 George Yule…………………………… ……………………… 11 1.1.2.5 M A K Halliday………………………………………………… 12 1.2 Summary……………………………… ……………………………….13 1.3 Error………………………………………………………… …………13 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1.3.1 Definition of Error……………………………… ………………….13 1.3.2 Distinction between “Error” and “Mistake”………… …………… 14 1.3.3 Classification of Error…………………………… ……………… 14 1.4 Review of Previous Studies……………………… ……………………16 1.5 Concluding Remarks…………………………… ……………… ……17 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY……………………………… ……………….18 2.1 An Overview of the Research Site………………… ………………….18 2.1.1 About the School…………………… ………………………………18 2.1.2 About the Teachers of English……………………………………….19 2.1.3 About the Syllabus and the 12th Graders‟ English Learning……… 19 2.2 Methods of the Study……………………………………… ………….20 2.3 Participants………………………………………………………………20 2.4 Description of the Sample……………………………………………….20 2.5 Data collection procedure……………………………….……………….21 2.6 Scope of Data Analysis………………………………………………….21 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION………………………………… 23 3.1 Findings………………………………………………….………………23 3.2 Discussion……………………………………………….………………27 3.2.1 Verb Errors………………………………………….……………….27 3.2.2 Sentence Structure Errors………………………… ……………… 29 3.2.3 Article Errors………………………………………… …………….31 3.2.4 Preposition Errors…………………………………… …………… 32 3.2.5 Noun Errors……………………………………………….…………33 3.3 Some Possible Solutions to Minimizing Errors…………………………34 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3.3.1 Deductive Teaching…………………………………………………34 3.3.2 Inductive Teaching………………………………………………….36 3.3.3 Interactive Teaching……………………………………………… 37 PART C: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………….… 39 Summary of the Findings……………………………………….… .39 Limitations………………………………………………………….……… 40 Pedagogical Implications ……….………………………………………… 40 Recommendations for Further Research…………………………….……….41 REFERENCES………………………………………………………….………….43 APPENDIX……………… ……….….………………….……………………… I vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure1.1 Frequency of grammatical errors in students‟ writings by categories Table 1.1 Frequency of grammatical errors in students‟ writings by types Table 3.2 Frequency of each grammatical error type Figure 3.2 Frequency of each grammatical error type vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS NDDUS : Nguyen Dang Dao Upper-Secondary School EA : Error Analysis EFL : English as a Foreign Language ESL : English as a Second Language viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com structures connected to prepositions by heart As a result, errors of this category occur As can be seen from Table 3.2, preposition errors account for 13.7% with 152 errors The most frequent type is the wrong use of preposition This error type constitutes 5.6% Unnecessary prepositions (52 errors) account for 4.7% and the least frequent type of errors in this category is omitted prepositions, which takes 3.5% with 38 errors The following are illustrated examples taken from students‟ writings: (79) Governments should ban people to exploit and sell fashionable wildlife products (80) At the same time, they should appeal government agencies in the world to contribute the programmes of protecting and preserving plants and animals that driven to the verge of extinction (81) In addition, people should contribute the fund of preserving the earth's valuable natural resources for the future generations (82) To conclusion, If these measure are taken, our planet might be a peaceful and beautiful place for all kinds of animals to live (83) My ideal world would be a peaceful and developed one in by 2020 (84) Year 2020, I would like to live a world which every thing much wonderful than they are today (85) When we go home, we ask somebody permission (86) Thanks for those rules, my family become more close-knit (87) She is always the first one to get up in the morning to prepare breakfast all members of my family (88) I help my mother to the housework after school and free time (89) I would like to live a world which everything will be much wonderful than they are nowadays 3.2.5 Nouns A noun is defined as a word that is used to name a person, animal, thing, idea, state, or quality (Russell, 1993) Errors of this category in this study are relatively low when compared with other error categories Noun errors consist of singular/plural nouns and countable/uncountable nouns It can be seen from Table 3.2, noun errors only account for 10.7% and there are 117 errors in 210 writings Of the two types mentioned, errors of singular/plural nouns take a larger proportion (5.7%) while errors of countable/uncountable account for 5.0% It is easy to understand why students make those errors As we can see, Vietnamese nouns - 33 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com become pluralized when words such as “các”, “những” are added before a noun and the noun remains unchanged, whereas, English (countable) nouns become pluralized by adding “s/es” to their final position For example: book (một sách) → books (những sách), watch (chiếc đồng hồ) → watches (những đồng hồ) Below are some errors made by the students in terms of nouns: (90) There are a lot of animal around the globe are threatened with extinction (91) To conclusion, If these measure are taken, our planet might be a peaceful and beautiful place for all kinds of animals to live in (92) There are no war (93) Instead of petrol, it is suggested that car should use alternative sources of energy (94) Every members has to obey family rules (95) Never my parents let me stay up late at nights because it‟s not good for my health (96) Children have to greet grandparent and parent when they go out or come back home (97) Before making an important decision, we have to ask our parents for useful advices (98) Our lifes will be more convenient (99) All childrens around the world will be able to go to school 3.3 Some Possible Solutions to Minimizing Errors From the findings above, we find that students at NDDUS are not very good at grammar To overcome this problem, the followings will be some suggestions for English grammar teaching that will be helpful for teachers at NDDUS and teachers of English in general in their teaching grammar to students There are various ways to teach grammar effectively In accordance with grammar teaching, various types of exercises should be employed so that students can master the grammatical points easily and effectively The techniques that are used to solve the problem of students‟ weaknesses at grammar are as follows 3.3.1 Deductive Teaching The deductive method of teaching grammar is the one that focuses on instruction before practice The teachers give their students an in-depth explanation of a grammatical concept before they encounter the same grammatical concept in - 34 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com their own learning After the lesson, students are expected to practice what they have just been shown in a mechanical way, through worksheets and exercises For example, in a lesson of tenses, teachers will present knowledge of tenses to students They will provide students forms of tenses Then they explain how to use each tense in exercises and in real situations They might also give students clues, adverbs of time and other relaters, to recognize which tenses will be used in certain sentences During that time, students listen carefully to grasp what the teachers say and they can also take notes of what need remembering After explaining the theory of tenses, the teachers will illustrate it with exercises With a clear explanation and illustrations, students then can practice with more exercises given Some sample exercises given here will help students practice their knowledge of tenses: Exercise 1: Give the correct tenses of the verbs in bracket Columbus……………… (discover) America more than 400 years ago It……… (rain) very hard now The sun ……….…… (warm) the air and ……………… (give) us light They…………… … (come) here a month ago Look! A man ……… ……… (run) after the train We ………………… (go) to the mountains last Sunday They ……………… (come) here in a month Albert Einstein ……………… (die) on 18, 1955 I ………………… (have) lunch with Dong yesterday 10 They …………… …… (not/ come) to see me since last month Exercise 2: Write complete sentences from the following words and phrases 1/ I /used/ live /farm /when /I /be / young girl …………………………………………………………………… 2/ Lam /like /cook /meals /but /not like /do /wash up …………………………………………………………………… 3/ She/ study/this /foreign language /nearly years ……………………………………………………………………… 4/ She/ always/ want /improve her English ……………………………………………………………………… 5/ Last week/ she/ buy/ English- Vietnamese dictionary ……………………………………………………………………… She /often/ use/ it /for /reading ……………………………………………………………………… 7/ We /be /here/ last week - 35 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ……………………………………………………………………… 3.3.2 Inductive Teaching The inductive method of teaching grammar involves presenting several examples that illustrate a specific concept and expecting students to notice how the concept works from these examples No explanation of the concept is given beforehand, and the expectation is that students learn to recognize the rules of grammar in a more natural way during their own reading and writing Discovering grammar and visualizing how these rules work in a sentence allow for easier retention of the concept than if the students were given an explanation that was disconnected from examples of the concept The main goal of the inductive teaching method is the retention of grammar concepts, with teachers using techniques that are known to work cognitively and make an impression on students‟ contextual memory For instance, If the teacher wants his student to learn about conditional sentences, he will provide some sentences using conditionals Students then have to explore the form, understand the use of conditionals Some examples to teach conditionals are as follows: If it rains this afternoon, we will/shall stay at home He will lend me some more money if he gets more If I had one million dollars, I would/should buy a house in the city If I were a millionaire, I would / should help poor people If I had come home earlier yesterday, I would have met my old friends The following sample exercises will help students practice the grammatical point: conditional sentences Exercise 3: Put the verbs in parentheses in the correct form to complete the sentences or exchanges A: My mother always spends his money on expensive things B: If he (be) practical, he _ (can save) some money A: Conservation programs have been introduced by most governments to prevent reckless waste of land B: If there _ (not be) proper control by the governments, the earth (be) greatly damaged now - 36 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com A: Last month, we paid a massive electricity bill B: If you (not waste) so much electricity, the bill (not be ) so large If Mr Brown _ (save) some money when he was young, he (not be) so poor A: The invitation says six o‟clock B: Well, it‟s six thirty now A: If we (start) earlier, we (not be) so late Exercise 4: Choose the word or phrase that best completes each sentence If I finish the dress before Sunday, I _ it to my sister A give B will give C would give D had given If I had seen the movie, I _ you about it last night A could tell B will tell C had told D would have told He would give you the money if he _ it A have B has C had D would have She would call you immediately if she _ help A needed B need C needs D will need If you have enough time, please the chair before you leave A paint B will paint C painted D would paint We could go for a drive if today Saturday A is B was C were D had been I _ if they invite me A accept B could accept C accepted D will accept If your mother _ that car for you, will you be happy? A buy B buys C could have bought D will buy If he early, he could have left on the afternoon flight A decided B decides C had decided D would decide 10 If he had left early, he _ us A will call B would call C could have called D could call 3.3.3 Interactive Teaching Another method of teaching grammar is to incorporate interactivity into lessons Using games to teach grammar not only engages students but also helps them to remember what they‟ve learned This method allows teachers to tailor their lessons to different learning styles of students For instance, each student can be given sets of jumbled words on a flash card, and the students must physically arrange those ones into proper sentences Other games can include word puzzles or fun online quizzes Here is a sample exercise for students to practice: - 37 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Exercise 5: Rearrange these words to make complete sentences: always / class / time / we / to / come / on → hours / week / often / does / how / he / many / a / work? → not / American / uniforms / / usually / school / wear / students → 10:00 / at / Wednesday / Science / Nam / class / on / has → interesting / I / because / Math / it / like / is → like / what / does / subject / best / Tom? → you / work / to / want / we / with → know / you / / likes / he / how / meat? → there / excuse / a / ! / post / is / me / near / office / here? → 10 that / you / the / , / want / is / post / letter / to / Mai? - 38 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART C: CONCLUSION In this part of the thesis, the results of the study will be summarized In addition, limitations of the study are mentioned and some pedagogical implication and suggestions for further studies are presented Summary The study is carried out with a view to investigating common grammatical errors made by twelfth graders at a secondary school in Bac Ninh province in their writings Firstly, the study reveals the most common grammatical errors made by the students Those errors belong to five groups: verb errors, sentence structure errors, article errors, preposition errors and noun errors The most frequent errors are verb errors which comprise errors in verb tenses and aspect, errors in verb forms as well as errors in subject-verb agreement Sentence structure errors are those include unidiomatic sentence construction, fragments, comma-splices and run-on sentences Article errors consist of wrong use of articles, omitted articles and unnecessary articles Preposition errors include wrong use of prepositions, unnecessary prepositions and omitted prepositions Noun errors are errors in singular/plural forms and countable/uncountable nouns Secondly, from the findings of the study, the researcher suggests some possible solutions so that students‟ grammatical errors in writings can be minimized and thus they can improve their writings in English Those possible solutions for teaching grammar include deductive teaching, inductive teaching and interactive teaching Those methods of teaching grammar help students understand deeply about grammatical points and apply their knowledge in writing skill without making errors of this type Making errors especially grammatical errors is unavoidable in learning a foreign language Thus, investigating grammatical errors of the learners is essential in the course of their learning It is more important when errors are analyzed and classified Error analysis in learning a new language not only helps researchers but - 39 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com also teachers as well If researchers understand how errors are made, they will be able to find ways to solve this drawback If teachers know how and why their students make errors, they will certainly find suitable teaching methods to help their students avoid those errors and improve their learning the language Limitations of the study The study shows some real and reliable results However, it also has certain limitations That is due to shortage of time, lack of reference materials and especially because of the limited knowledge of the researcher The first limitation is the range of the participants There are 90 students involved in the study but all of them are at the same age and at the same level of learning Therefore, the results of the study can‟t be applied to other students with different learning ability The second limitation is that the study is to investigate grammatical errors in students‟ writings but their writings are mostly of descriptive style As a result, they don‟t use some grammatical points in their writings such as past tenses … and therefore the research does not cover all the mistakes they may make Last but not least, some possible solutions given out are only the idea of the researcher himself Those solutions may be unsuitable for other teachers in their grammar teaching contexts Pedagogical implications From the theoretical background in the literature review of this research and basing on the findings of the study, the researcher would like to make some recommendations with a view to providing useful information for language teachers and other researchers as well As the result of this study, students at NDDUS face a lot of problems in their writings, especially problems with learning grammar To avoid those problems in teaching and learning writing, these points should be cared about: Firstly, grammar is a big problem for students when they write in English Thus, grammar should be taught carefully to the students before they learn to write - 40 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Each grammatical point should be explained thoroughly and illustrated with clear examples Then, they should be provided various exercises on the grammatical point so that students know how to use it in writing skill Secondly, to minimize students‟ grammatical errors in their writings, they must have chance to write regularly Teachers should provide various types of writings so that they become familiar and fluent at this skill Thirdly, it is important that students‟ error correction must be carried out frequently and effectively Each time, students are required to write something in English, their writings must be marked and corrected Teachers can use different techniques in correcting students‟ errors One of the techniques that proves to be very effective is peer-correction Peer-correction helps students self-teach and memorize deeply the errors so that they can avoid them later in their own writings Teachers should focus on which errors to be corrected each time and not correct all the errors they make in their writings After correcting those errors, teachers should warn them or explain carefully why they make those errors and give suggestions on avoiding the errors To sum up, knowing students‟ errors and analyze those errors are useful not only for students but also for teachers in teaching writing skill as well Knowledge of error analysis helps the process of learning and teaching languages more effectively Suggestions for Further Studies The study is useful in some ways However, more studies can be carried out focusing on the following domains: Firstly, more studies with the same purpose can be carried out on different students with different level of language Secondly, other researchers can carry out their research on grammatical errors made by students in speaking Thirdly, more studies can be done on morphological errors, lexical errors as well - 41 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com REFERENCES Allen, J P B and S P Corder (eds.) (1974) Techniques in Applied Linguistics Oxford: Oxford University Press Brown, D B (1994) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching Third Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents Celce-Murcia, M and D Larsen-Freemen (1999) The Grammar Book (2nd Edition) Manufactured in the United States of America Chakorn, O (2005) An Analysis of Lexico-grammatical Errors of Thai Business People in their English Business Correspondence NIDA Language and Communication Journal, 10, 70-94 Corder, S P (1967) The Significance of Learners‟ Errors International Review of Applied Linguistics, pp.161-70 Corder, S P (1974) Error Analysis (In) The Edinburgh Course in Applied Linguistics Oxford: Oxford University Press Corder, S P (1975) Error Analysis (In) Papers in Applied Linguistics, Vol London: OUP Crystal, D (2003) A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (5th Edition) WileyBlackwell, p.165 Eckersley, C E., & Eckersley, J M (1960) A Comprehensive English Grammar for Foreign Students Essex: Longman Farmer, M., Yesher, S., Zemelman, S., & Richmond, E (1985) Composition and Grammar: Steps in the Writing Process River Forest: Laidlaw Brothers Feist, B (1996) Applied Communication Skills: Writing Paragraphs Cambridge Adult Education Halliday, M A K and Hasan, R (1976) Cohesion in English London: Longman Hasyim, S (2002) Error Analysis in the Teaching of English, (1), 42– 50 Hoang Van Van et al (2016) Tiếng Anh 12 Tái lần thứ 10 Hà Nội: NXB Giao duc Huddleston, R (1984) Introduction to the Grammar of English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Hudson, R (1995) English Grammar Linguistics Society of America Klammer, P T & Schulz, R M (1992) Analyzing English grammar Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon Kolln, M (1994) Understanding English Grammar (4th ed) NY: Macmillan M A K Halliday (1994) An Introduction to Functional Grammar (2th Edition) London: Arnold Maugham, W S (1938) The Summing Up (No Publishers) Norrish, J (1987) Language Learning and their Errors London: Macmillan Publisher Ltd Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press - 42 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Penny Ur (1996) A Course in Language Teaching United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press Purpura, J (2004) Differing Notions of „Grammar‟ for Assessment (In) Assessing Grammar (Cambridge Language Assessment, pp 1-23) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Quirk, R and S Greenbaum (1990) A University Grammar of English London: Longman Quirk, R., S Greenbaum, G Leech, and J Svartvik (1980) A Grammar of Contemporary English London: Longman Raymond, J C (1980) Writing Is an Unnatural Act New York: Harper &Row Publisher, Inc Richards, J (Ed.) Error Analysis: Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition 31-54 Essex: Longman Richards, J C (Ed.) (1984) Error Analysis: Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition London: Longman Richards, J C., J Platt and H Plat (1992) Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics London: Longman Ridha, N S (2012) The Effect of EFL Learners' Mother Tongue on their Writings in English An Error Analysis Study Journal of the College of Arts, University of Basrah, 60, 22- 45 Spencer, S (1974) A Contrastive study of English and Thai Retrieved July 30, 2010, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED105775.pdf Yule, G (1998) Explaining English Grammar Oxford: Oxford University Press - 43 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX SAMPLE STUDENTS’ WRITINGS Topic 1: Write a paragraph of 120-150 words about your family rules Sample writing 1: Every family has its own rules Mine has a few In my family, I always have to respect older people, especially grandparents During to school year, I am not watching TV and use the phone while doing my homework I always talk to my parents before making an important decision In the evening, I don‟t go out too 11 p.m because it was dark night will fear my parents met danger My brother is very naughty but I always have to compromise because he was young boy Members of my family share the household chores I often share my personal secrets with my mother because my mother very well listen to what I say Sample writing 2: Every family has its own rules Mine has a few First, everybody has to their share of the household chores My mother goes to the market My father does chores My main responsibility is to cook and clean up the house Second, everybody haven‟t to coming home late and have to coming home before p.m Thirds, during the school year, I‟m not allowed to watch TV until I have finish my homework Fourth, my parents allow to go out with friends in partys Fifth, we are very close-knit family and very support of one another Sixth, I always talk to my parents before making an important decision Thanks to my family rules, my family is happier I love my family Sample writing 3: Every family has its own rules and mine is, too First and foremost, all of us have to their share of the household chores My mother takes the responsibility for preparing meals and my main work is to wash the dishes and take out the garbage My brother who is youngest child, only does such things as sweep the house and clean the floor Sometimes, my father doesn‟t go to work, he is always willing to give a hand with doing household chores Secondly, we, the I LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com childrens, must ask our parents for permission before making an important decision For instance, I want to attend a course that which course I will study depends partly on my parents In addition, I and my brother aren‟t allowed to watch TV until we finished our homework An important thing is respect mutual My parents never let us quarrel and look down on other people Above things are my family rules and I love my family very much Topic 2: Write a paragraph of 120-150 words about the ideal world in which you would like to live in the year 2030 Sample writing 1: My ideal world would be peaceful one There are no war, people won‟t have to live under threat of natural disaster every year People leads a happy life People would live in a clean healthy environment with less noise and less pollution In the future, some things will be very different Technology will develop, such as robots will most of the work in factories More people will work from home on computer linked to a head office Instead of petrol, it is suggested that car should use alternative sources of energy They will have many modern means such as subway, helicopter, submarine… We will be living in a much cleaner environment, breathing fresher air and eating healthier foods We will live justified and equal Our future will be better than now Sample writing 2: My ideal world would be a peaceful and developed one in by 2030 There are no wars and conflicts between nations in the world Everyone will live in peace don‟t have to worry about terrorism problem which everyone concern is the shortage of jobs Most graduates want to get a job, so desire that the government will resolve this problem I would also wish to live in a clean healthy environment with less noise and pollution Cars will run on anything from electricity, not methane gas People in remote areas will be accesses to medical services to improve their health But my main desire is to see people less selfish, less greedy, less violent and more responsible, more friendly and more loving than II LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com they are now In short, world in which I would like to live in by 2030 is peaceful, stable and developed Sample writing 3: Year 2030, I would like to live a world which every thing much wonderful than they are today There are no wars or conflicts between nations Terrorist must be put an end People won‟t have to live under the society discriminates against women or religion All of countries will have to have a relationship and work closely with together in harmony in order to develop economic, politic, culture… We will live in a much cleaner environment, breathing fresher air and eating healthier foods Living standard of us must be improved No one must live in slum and short of water, food or residence Specially, everyone has a job to do, and there is a good healthy standard of living for all I would also want to live in a clean healthy environment without noise, pollution, smoke… Children who live in the mountains to the delta must be go to school At school no more violent In addition, the population explosion must be decrease In a word, I would like to live in the world which peaceful and modern one Topic 3: Write a paragraph of 120-150 words about measures for protecting endangered animals Sample writing 1: Do we betray our planet? Environment is polluted the natural resources is going to used up, the air is too dirty to breathe There are a lot of animal around the globe are threatened with extinction I don‟t want to live like this If I had one wish, I would change the world Maybe, people don‟t know much about the need to protect rare and endangered animals Animals are one part of our life I hope that people will together protect animal, protect our world We should organize different activities to raise people‟s awareness of the need to protect animals Human had better building habitat reserves to preserve endangered animals Governments should ban people to exploit and sell fashionable wildlife products We had to stop hunting and selling wild animals for food Moreover, I think people III LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com have responsibility to protect environment, keep water and air clean, grow more trees Can you hear the call for help of the animals? I can They are also a creature in the earth We have to protect them Protect animals is to protect our lifes Sample writing 2: There is a number of measures that should taken to protect endangered animals First, people should organize different activities raising people's awareness of the urgent need to protect these animals For example, they hold international conferences, meetings and forums about great importance of ecology and biodiversity At the same time, they should appeal government agencies in the world to contribute the programmes of protecting and preserving plants and animals that driven to the verge of extinction In addition, people should contribute the fund of preserving the earth's valuable natural resources for the future generations Besides these, governments should enact laws to ban activities that can damage or destroy the nature To conclusion, If these measure are taken, our planet might be a peaceful and beautiful place for all kinds of animals to live in Sample writing 3: The animals is a important part of the earth because they balance the biodiversity Nowadays, there are many animal species which are endanger of extinction Then, humans have to apply measure for protecting endangered animals First, governments have enacted laws to protect wildlife from commercial trade and overhunting At the same time, people should appeal to governmental agencies in the world to contribute to the programs of protecting and preserving plants and animals that driven to the verge of extinction In addition, people should contribute to the fund of preserving the earth‟s valuable natural resources of future generations To sum up, each of us should something to help animals live together with us IV LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... investigating common grammatical errors made by twelfth graders at a secondary school in Bac Ninh province in their writings Firstly, the study reveals the most common grammatical errors made by the... luanvanchat@agmail.com CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I certify that the thesis entitled ? ?COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS MADE BY 12TH GRADERS IN THEIR WRITINGS: A STUDY AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE? ?? is... important when errors are analyzed and classified Error analysis in learning a new language not only helps researchers but - 39 - LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com also teachers