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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAN THI NHAN HIEU AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH SYNTACTIC ERRORS IN WRITING BY UPPER SECONDARY STUDENTS AT QUANG TRI HIGH SCHOOL MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAN THI NHAN HIEU AN INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH SYNTACTIC ERRORS IN WRITING BY UPPER SECONDARY STUDENTS AT QUANG TRI HIGH SCHOOL MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.01.11 SUPERVISOR: ASSOC.PROF.DR TRAN VAN PHUOC HUE, 2017 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ PHAN THỊ NHÂN HIẾU NGHIÊN CỨU LỖI CÚ PHÁP TRONG CÁC BÀI VIẾT TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG TẠI TRƯỜNG CẤP BA QUẢNG TRỊ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS TS TRẦN VĂN PHƯỚC HUẾ, 2017 ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Date: …./ …./ 2017 Signature Phan Thi Nhan Hieu iii ABSTRACT Errors are inevitable in the process of learning a second language; especially, errors in writing can be seen as the primary concern of many linguistic instructors Many students are facing a variety of problems in dealing with logical and coherent sentences That explains why syntactic errors are also needed to take into account to aim at conquering the wiring proficiency This present study analyzes the common syntactic errors in students' written performances of 80 grade 11 students at Quang Tri High School Students were given a pre-test and the investigator found 11 different types of syntactic errors categorized in the order of error frequencies The causes of these errors were analyzed from the students' perception using questionnaires after the error correction lesson Moreover, post-test were also given to examining the understanding and awareness enhancement of students after they completed the questionnaires The results from the data analysis revealed that mother tongue interference, cognitive processes, language knowledge and students' awareness are the main causes of syntactic errors among these high school students Apart from some certain helpful measures inferred from the survey, the researchers suggested some prominent teaching strategies to help teachers tackle students' errors in writing and also reduce problems in learning the English language iv ACKNOWLEGEMENT This paper could not be possible and completed without the help and valuable support of a number of wonderful people who all deserve my deepest sense of gratitude and immense appreciation First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and best regard to my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Tran Van Phuoc for his precious guidance, extremely valuable feedback and continuous encouragement during the time I conducted this research Especially, his careful reading, constructive criticism and patient guidance made my work in a much better way Besides my advisor, I would like to express my special thanks to all the relevant students for their willing participation and contribution in the process of data collection of the study Moreover, I also want to thank all the teachers at Quang Tri High School, who were willing to take their time to help me conduct the research procedures, for their enthusiasm and friendly support Last but not the least, I would like to deeply thank my parents, my older brother and my closed friends for their endless love, constant encouragement which gave me a great deal of strength and unending inspiration during my stressful time of conducting this paper v TABLE OF CONTENTS SUB COVER PAGE i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY iii ABSTRACT iv ACKNOWLEGEMENT .v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF ABBREVIATION ix LIST OF TABLES .x LIST OF FIGURES xi CHAPTER 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Topic .2 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Structure of the study .4 2.1 Previous studies 2.1.1 Some researches on syntactic errors in writing in the world 2.1.2 Some researches on syntactic errors in writing in Vietnam 2.2 Theoretical background of the study .8 2.2.1 The importance of grammar in learning a second language .9 2.2.1.1 Definition of grammar 2.2.1.2 Grammar in second language learning vi 2.2.2 Writing .10 2.2.3 Errors Analysis 11 2.2.3.1 Errors versus mistakes 11 2.2.3.2 Significance of errors in English language teaching and learning .12 2.2.3.3 Error Analysis and the procedures 13 2.2.3.3.1 Error Analysis .13 2.2.3.3.2 Error Analysis Procedures 16 2.2.3.4 Syntactic errors 17 2.2.3.4.1 Syntax 17 2.2.3.4.2 Types and causes of syntactic errors 19 3.1 Research design 20 3.2 Data collection methods 20 3.2.1 Participants .21 3.2.2 Data Collection Instruments .21 3.2.2.1 Pre-test and Post- test 22 3.2.2.2 Questionnaires 24 3.3 Data analysis 26 CHAPTER 28 4.1 The perceptions of the students about syntactic errors in writing at Quang Tri High School 29 4.1.1 The perception of students about making errors in writing 29 4.1.2 Students' knowledge of syntactic errors in writing 31 4.1.3 The perception of students about the importance of syntax in writing proficiency 32 vii 4.2 Syntactic errors and the causes of these errors .35 4.2.1 Syntactic errors 35 4.2.1.1 Illogical and Incoherent sentences .37 4.2.1.2 Conjunction misuse 38 4.2.1.3 Word order in sentences .39 4.2.1.4 S-P/V agreement 40 4.2.1.5 Agreement between pronoun and antecedent .41 4.2.1.6 Passive and Active voice sentences 42 4.2.1.7 Inverted sentences 43 4.2.1.8 Cleft sentences 44 4.2.1.9 Direct and Indirect sentences .45 4.2.1.10 Interrogative sentences .45 4.2.1.11 Negative sentences 46 4.2.2 The frequencies of each type of syntactic errors 49 4.2.3 The causes of syntactic errors 51 4.3 Measures that help students limit syntactic errors 55 4.4 Result from post-test .59 5.1 Conclusion 63 5.2 Suggestion .65 5.3 Limitation 67 5.4 Recommendations for further research 67 REFERENCES 69 APPENDIX .75 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATION S-P/V agreement: Subject-Predicate/Verb agreement L1: first language L2: second language ix teacher factors on students' errors in writing Additionally, it would be possible to apply some other research instruments such as interview or class observation to find out the interaction between teachers and students and also the error treatment that teachers are using to respond to the students' linguistic errors It is necessary to widen the scope of the study because this will give more accurate data for statistical analysis and the findings Moreover, the time constraint is another problem of this study; therefore, it would be possible to expand the duration of research procedures As an illustration, if there were more error correction and explanation lessons after the pre-test, the students would get more chances to understand and access the ways of error treatment from teacher's strategies 68 REFERENCES Abushihab, I (2014) An Analysis of Grammatical Errors in Writing Made by Turkish Learners of English as a Foreign Language International Journal of Linguistics,6(4), 213-223 Abusaeedi, R., & Asghar, A (2015) A quantitative analysis of Iranian EFL learners' sources of written errors International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 4(1), 31-42 Al-Khasawneh, F M (2014) Error Analysis of Written English Paragraphs by Jordanian Undergraduate Students: A Case Study International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities, 2(8), 85-100 Al-Shormani, M.Q (2012) Sources of Syntactic Errors in Yemeni Learners’ English 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(2013) Mixed Method Research: Instruments, Validity, Reliability and Reporting Findings Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(2), 254-262 74 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE Name: Class: PART 1: STUDENT'S PERCEPTION ON SYNTACTIC ERRORS IN WRITING Please put a  the answer of your choice TABLE A No Neutral Yes Are you aware of your error making while you are writing? Are your errors usually repeated many times in your writing? Can you be self-correctable to your errors? Is your error making affected by external factors while you are writing?                     TABLE B Do you know what exactly syntactic error means?      Do you know which types of syntactic errors?      Do you know what the main causes of syntactic      errors are? 75 Dose the lack of knowledge of syntax prevent you from creating logical and meaningful sentences?           Do you believe that your writing will be better after you have a deep understanding about syntactic errors? a Students’ awareness of the role of syntax in writing proficiency b Students’ identification and correction of syntactic errors c Students’ attitude toward syntactic errors d Students’ knowledge of syntax 76 important Quite important Unsure Not quite important Unimportant 10 Please rate the level of importance of the following statements PART 2: TYPES OF SYNTACTIC ERRORS AND THE CAUSES OF THESE ERRORS Please put a  in the box that are familiar to you 11 What syntactic errors are found in your writing? My syntactic errors usually are a Illogical and Incoherent sentences b Conjunction misuse c Word order in sentences d S-P/V agreement e Agreement between pronoun and antecedent f Passive and Active voice sentences g Inverted sentences h Cleft sentences i Direct and Indirect sentences j Interrogative sentences k Negative sentences 77 12 What frequency of each type? 5- always 4- often 3-sometimes 2- rarely 1-never a Illogical and Incoherent sentences b Conjunction misuse c Word order in sentences d S-P/V agreement e Agreement between pronoun and antecedent f Passive and Active voice sentences g Inverted sentences h Cleft sentences i Direct and Indirect sentences j Interrogative sentences k Negative sentences 78 13 What difficulties prevent you from writing correct sentences? Please put a tick in the boxes that you think they are the difficulties preventing you from writing correct sentences Difficulties prevent you from writing correct sentences a I am not aware of the importance of errors in writing b My repeated errors in writing gradually reinforce my writing habits c I don’t plan my ideas before writing d I find it difficult to arrange my ideas in logical and coherent ways e I often translate what I think from Vietnamese sentences into English ones f I think Vietnamese word order is similar to English one g I often transfer Vietnamese sentence structure to English one without being aware of differences in language typology h I can't determine the position of clauses in English sentences i I cannot distinguish this type of sentence from others when using them j I don’t know how to construct emphatic sentences such as inverted sentences, passive sentences, cleft sentences Please rate how strongly you agree or disagree with each of these statement 79 14 Which factor generally causes your syntactic errors in writing? Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Main Factors a Cognitive processes b Mother tongue interference c Language knowledge d Students’ awareness of writing skills e Other factors 80 Agree Strongly agree PART 3: MEASURES THAT HELP STUDENTS LIMIT SYNTACTIC ERRORS 15 Please rate the level of importance of the following statements Measures Not Extremely important important                               a Teachers should make more uses of brainstorming activities to help students organize their ideas more logically and coherently b Teachers should provide students with English sample writings together with some comparative explanations c Teachers should help students recognize errors in writing and correct them directly d Teachers should set up group, peer and self-editing activities to provide students more chance to track their errors themselves and collaboratively e Teachers should attend seminars or conferences on the teaching of English writing in context to improve their writing teaching f Teachers should consolidate and enhance their linguistic knowledge 81 16 Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements by putting a tick  in the appropriate box Strongly disagree Disagree a Students should plan their coherent ideas to support the topic before writing b Students should be aware of similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese sentence structures c Students should learn writing from error correction by group or peer-editors or teachers d Students should read, analyze collaboratively and use sample writings as models of writing e Other factors Thank you for your help! 82 Agree Strongly Do not agree know