MA thesis VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Thị Diệu Huyền COORDINATING CONJUNCTION ERRORS IN WRITTEN ENGLISH MADE BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLIS[.]
VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Thị Diệu Huyền COORDINATING CONJUNCTION ERRORS IN WRITTEN ENGLISH MADE BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLISH AT A UNIVERSITY IN DONG NAI PROVINCE MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE HO CHI MINH CITY, 2020 luan an VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Thị Diệu Huyền COORDINATING CONJUNCTION ERRORS IN WRITTEN ENGLISH MADE BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLISH AT A UNIVERSITY IN DONG NAI PROVINCE Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Nguyễn Nhân Ái, Ph D HO CHI MINH CITY, 2020 luan an DECLARATION I, Nguyễn Thị Diệu Huyền, hereby certify that this thesis, which is entitled “Coordination Conjunction Errors in Written English Made by First Year Students Majoring in English at a University in Dong Nai Province”, is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Graduate Academy of Social Sciences The thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree to any university or institution This thesis is carried out without using any other author’ work except the information from references Author’s signature Nguyễn Thị Diệu Huyền Approved by SUPERVISOR Nguyễn Nhân Ái, Ph.D Date:… …………………….…… i luan an ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is not only my own effort but also the support and contribution from many individuals and organizations Firstly, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Nguyễn Nhân Ái, Ph.D., for her detailed guidance, valuable comments and useful advice for my study Without her, this thesis is impossible Secondly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of my lecturers at Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Graduate Academy of Social Sciences for their valuable lectures during my MA course Thirdly, I wish to extend my special thanks to my colleagues and students at Dong Nai Technology University for all their support and contribution to this study Finally, millions of thanks go to my beloved family who has facilitated and encouraged me during my MA course ii luan an ABSTRACT This study focuses on the analysis of errors in the use of English coordinating conjunctions in written English made by the first-year students majoring in English at Dong Nai Technology University with an aim to recommend some selected implications for better teaching of English coordinating conjunctions in particular and writing in general The analysis was based on the data collected from two tests: a multiple-choice test of using coordinating conjunctions and writing compositions on three topics given The tests were provided by 50 first year English-majored students at Dong Nai Technology University The most frequently used coordinating conjunction in students’ compositions was “And”, and the greatest frequency of errors occurred in the uses of “And”, too The study also discussed some causes of coordinating conjunction errors and some implications in teaching English coordinating conjunctions based on the findings iii luan an TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aim(s) of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Research methods 1.7 Structure of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background 2.1.1 An overview of coordinating conjunctions 2.1.1.1 Definitions of Coordinating conjunctions 2.1.1.2 Functions of Coordinating conjunctions 2.1.1.3 “Comma” with Coordinating conjunctions 10 2.1.2 An overview of writing 11 2.1.3 An overview of errors 12 2.1.3.1 The notions of errors in language learning 12 2.1.3.2 Distinction between errors and mistakes 13 2.1.3.3 Classifications of errors 14 2.1.3.4 Sources of errors 17 iv luan an 2.1.4 An overview of error analysis 21 2.1.4.1 Definition of error analysis 21 2.1.4.2 Stages in error analysis 22 2.1.4.3 Significance of error analysis 23 2.1.4.4 Error correction and significance of error correction 24 2.2 Previous studies 26 2.3 Chapter summary 27 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 28 3.1 Research questions 28 3.2 Setting of the study 28 3.3 Participants 30 3.4 Instruments of data collection 31 3.5 Data collection procedures 31 3.6 Data analysis procedure 32 3.7 Chapter summary 32 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 34 4.1 General evaluation of the students’ performance 34 4.2 Results and analysis from students’ multiple-choice tests 34 4.3 Results and analysis from students’ compositions 37 4.4 Chapter summary 56 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 58 5.1 Recapitulation 58 5.2 Concluding remarks 59 5.3 Implications 60 5.4 Limitations and suggestions for further study 63 v luan an REFERENCES 65 APPENDIX 1: MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST I APPENDIX 2: KEY OF MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST III APPENDIX 3: WRITING COMPOSITION: TOPIC V APPENDIX 4: WRITING COMPOSITION: TOPIC VII APPENDIX 5: WRITING COMPOSITION: TOPIC IX vi luan an LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Non-pass and pass students in multiple- choice tests 34 Table 2: Total number of correct and incorrect answers in multiple- choice tests 35 Table 3: Number of correct and incorrect answers of each of coordinating conjunctions 36 Table 4: Number of coordinating conjunctions used in compositions on topic 37 Table 5: Number of coordinating conjunctions used in compositions on topic 38 Table 6: Number of coordinating conjunctions used in compositions on topic 39 Table 7: Number of coordinating conjunctions used in compositions on three topics 40 Table 8: Students’ coordinating conjunction errors in compositions on topics 41 vii luan an LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS DNTU: Dong Nai Technology University FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages viii luan an ... reasons, the author wants to conduct a research entitled ? ?Coordinating Conjunction Errors in Written English Made by First Year Students Majoring in English at a University in Dong Nai Province? ??... luan an ABSTRACT This study focuses on the analysis of errors in the use of English coordinating conjunctions in written English made by the first- year students majoring in English at Dong Nai. ..VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Thị Diệu Huyền COORDINATING CONJUNCTION ERRORS IN WRITTEN ENGLISH MADE BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN ENGLISH AT A