An analysis of errors in using English articles by 10th graders at Quảng Xương III High School, Thanh Hóa Province = Phân tích lỗi sử dụng mạo từ tiếng Anh của

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGÔ THỊ KHUYÊN AN ANALYSIS OF ERRORS IN USIN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

NGÔ THỊ KHUYÊN

AN ANALYSIS OF ERRORS IN USING ENGLISH ARTICLES BY 10 th

GRADERS AT QUẢNG XƯƠNG 3 HIGH SCHOOL,

THANH HOÁ PROVINCE

Phân tích lỗi sử dụng mạo từ tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT

Quảng Xương 3, tỉnh Thanh Hoá

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

NGÔ THỊ KHUYÊN

AN ANALYSIS OF ERRORS IN USING ENGLISH ARTICLES BY 10 th

GRADERS AT QUẢNG XƯƠNG 3 HIGH SCHOOL,

THANH HOÁ PROVINCE

Phân tích lỗi sử dụng mạo từ tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT

Quảng Xương 3, tỉnh Thanh Hoá

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN VĂN TRÀO, PhD

Hanoi, 2014

i

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this is my own research work conducted on the

sources listed in the References part of the study

Signature

Ngô Thị Khuyên

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not have been possible without the assistance and support

of many individuals I wish to acknowledge and express my appreciation of these people for their invaluable contributions

I am most grateful to my supervisor, Dr Nguyễn Văn Trào, for his great assistance, encouragement, enthusiasm and valuable comments, which have played a very important role during the course of writing this thesis Without his precious support and invaluable guidance, this thesis would never been completed

I also would like to send my thanks to all the lecturers from Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi who have provided me with invaluable sources of knowledge and instructions during my study

I would wish to thank my colleagues and my students at Quảng Xương 3 High School for their willingness to participate in this study

Finally, my sincere thanks also go to my family and friends whose support has been of great significance to my thesis

iii

ABSTRACT

This study aims at providing a comprehensive account of the types of errors produced by the 10th graders at Quảng Xương 3 High School (QXHS) in their use of articles, based on the Surface Structure Taxonomies (SST) of errors Data were collected from written samples of 100 10th grade students at QXHS The students were given forty-five minutes to write on one of four topics appropriate with their level Analysis of errors in the students‟ written samples revealed that omission errors were the most frequent (49.83%), followed by errors in addition (43.14%), and substitution errors were (7.02%) the least Furthermore, the results shows that the errors root from both inter- lingual and intra- lingual sources From the data analysis results, pedagogical implications were given to solve the problems

Error Analysis Quảng Xương High School

LIST OF TABLE

Table 1: Frequency of errors according to SST

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS… ……… ii

ABSTRACT……… ……… iii

ABBREVIATIONS……… iv

LIST OF CHARTS……… ……….iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS………….………v

PART A: INTRODUCTION……….1

1 Rationale……… 1

2 Objectives of the study……… 1

3 Research questions……… 2

4 Scope of the study………2

5 Significance of the study……… 2

6 Structure of the thesis……… 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT……….…4

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW………4

1 Theoretical background……… 4

1.1.Errors 4

1.1.1 Definition of errors……… 4

1.1.2 The distinction between “error” and “mistake”……… 5

1.1.3 Sources of error occurrence……….5

1.1.4 Types of errors……….…9

1.1.5 The benefits of analyzing errors……… ….11

1.1.6 Error analysis……….11

1.2 An overview of English article system……….….12

1.2.1 Classification of English articles……….….12

1.2.2 System of article usage……….…16

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2 Previous studies on similar theme……… ………17

3 Summary……… …… 19

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY……… …20

2.1 Overview……….……20

2.2 Participants……….….20

2.3 Instrument of data collection……….… 20

2.4 Procedure……….…22

2.5 Data analysis……… … 22

CHAPTER III: RESULT AND DISCUSSION ……….…24

3.1 Omission error……….………24

3.2 Addition error……….……….27

3.3 Substitution error……….………29

3.4 Chapter summary……… ……… …30

PART C: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION……….31

1 Summary of major findings……… ……31

2 Pedagogic implications……… ……… 32

3 Limitations and Suggestions for further research……… ……… 33

REFERENCES……… ………34 APPENDICES……… ……… I

1

PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part gives rationale, objectives, the research questions, the scope

of the study and the structure of the thesis

1 Rationale

The English article system has been a challenging area from both teaching and learning perspectives for ages Articles include multiple functions and contain a very complex subsystem According to many researchers, article usage can be considered as number one problem in many writing classrooms However, articles do not seem to be a great obstacle in comprehension The students therefore believe that the article is a small part

of English grammar and they do not pay very much attention to them

According to Lado (1957), it is interference of the first language that is a barrier for learning a second language Learners‟ first language seems to have

an effect on the learning of the English article system According to Standwell (1997), non- native English speakers have some problems in using the English articles correctly irrespective of their native language Among numerous languages in the world, Vietnamese as well as Japanese and Russian do not include any articles while English does

The students at Quảng Xương 3 High School, from my observation, often make errors in using articles in writing As an English language teacher, the researcher is aware of the importance of the error analysis in using articles and really keen on finding ways to help the students This desire has led to my intention to carry out the present research work

2 Objectives of the study

The objectives of this thesis are to:

 investigate and find out the types and causes of errors in using English articles in the writing by the QXHS students;

(1) What types of article errors in writings do the QXHS students

make?

(2) What are the possible sources of the errors?

4 Scope of the study

It is believed that different types of learners committed different types

of errors and type of errors are various according to different stages in learning process Within the framework of a minor M.A thesis, the study is confined itself to errors in the use of English articles in writing by the 10thQXHS graders

5 Significance of the study

It is hoped that the findings of the present research would be useful to Vietnamese teachers of English as well as learners of English Once the type and the causes of a particular error are properly found, teachers will have a better understanding of students‟ problem in using articles in writing and can develop proper solutions

6 Structure of the thesis

The thesis is composed of three main parts and references

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Part A: Introduction

This part gives reasons for choosing the topic, objectives, the research questions and methods of the study It also narrows the scope of the study and briefly presents an overall outline of the research study

Part B: Development: This part consists of three chapters

Chapter 1: Literature review

This chapter reviews the literature related to the study Errors and error analysis in English language learning are discussed The literature related to errors is given; it includes the notion of errors in language leaning, the distinction between errors and mistakes, main causes of errors The theoretical background on English articles and a minor comparison between the definite article and indefinite articles are also provided

Chapter 2: Methodology

Chapter three describes in detail the research methodology: including the subjects, instruments of data collection and methods of data analysis

Chapter 3: Presentation and analysis of data

Chapter four presents the statistical results and the analysis of the collected data

Part C: Conclusions and recommendations

Part C provides a summary of major findings and pedagogic implications

The thesis is ended with REFERENCES.

4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the literature related to errors and articles in writing is discussed in order to provide the study with the sufficient theory background

or writing or parts of conversation or a composition that deviates from selected norms” Richards (1974:184) also shares this view: “An error in the speech or writing of a second or foreign language learning is the use of a language item (e.g., a word, a grammatical item, a speech act, etc) in a way which a fluent or native speaker of the language regards as showing faulty or incomplete learning” Similarly, Liski and Puntamen (1983: 227) have said that “an error occurs where the speakers fail to follow the pattern or the manner of speech of educated people in English speaking countries today” From the definitions, it is clear that an error is the unsuccessful use of the target language in speech and writing by the learners in comparison with that

by the native speakers

However, when learners come up with a set of rules to produce new patterns in the target language, they cannot avoid committing errors Errors are no longer considered as an evil sign of failure, in teaching and learning, to

be eradicated at any cost; rather, they are seen as a necessary part of the

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language learning process because they are the evidence showing that the learners are working toward the correct rules

1.1.2 The distinction between “error” and “mistake”

The distinction between “errors” and “mistakes” has been given by many linguists though it is impossible to indicate any sharp differentiation According to Klassen (1991), the term error is used to refer to a form of structure that a native speaker deems unacceptable because of the lack of language competence Chomsky (1965) initiates the distinction when he suggests that there are two types of errors: one resulting from verbal performance factors, the other from inadequate language competence

Later, Corder (1967) names the former mistakes and the later error Mistakes are said to be unsystematic in nature and correctable when attention

is drawn to its producers Errors, on the other hand, refer to any systematic deviations from the rules of the target language system

While Yulianti (2007: 9) differentiates a mistake from an error carefully, she states:

- A mistake is a slip that a learner can self-correct

- An error is what a learner cannot self-correct

It is then suggested that a mistake is just a slip that the learner forgets the right form while, an error is a deviation which is made by the learner because

he does not know the rule and he/she will make it repetitively

1.1.3 Sources of error occurrence

There are a number of reasons for how learners make errors; they take root from both social factors and cognitive factors (Myles, 2002) Basically, two types of causes are classified: (1) first language interference-interlingual source and (2) causes independent of the first language interference - intralingual source

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i Interference from the native language

Whenever an error appears, there is likelihood that the mother tongue is responsible Traditionally, the notion of first language interference is understood as a negative transfer from the first language to the target language It is the way of learning new habits is hindered by previously learnt ones Language is a set of habit, and learning a new language is a process formulating a new habit Lado (1957) claims that “errors are originated in the learners‟ disposition to transfer forms and meanings, and the distribution of forms and meanings of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture” (1957:1) Beardsmore (1982) suggests that many of the difficulties a second language learner has with the phonology, vocabulary and grammar of the second language are due to the interference of habits from the first language The formal elements of the first language are used within the context of the second language, resulting in errors in the second language, as the structures of the first and second languages are different

Corder (1967) observes that language learners make hypotheses about the language they are learning, try to compare it with their native language, then come to the conclusion that errors in foreign language reflect the first language‟s features Later in 1978 he recasts interference as learners‟ reliance

on the first language as their strategy of communication, which means learners use literal translation as a learning strategy to overcome their ignorance In fact, Vietnamese beginners learning English have a tendency to transfer the word order of Vietnamese into English, which results in their errors in writing

It is believed that there are four major factors that encourage foreign language learners to use their native language in second language acquisition Firstly, it is the performance pressure When learners are forced to perform

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tasks they do not want or their linguistic competence fail to meet, they fall back on the language most familiar to them that is their mother tongue Under writing pressure, learners may rely on systematic resources from their native language for the achievement and synthesis of meaning Windowson (1990) Secondly, the limited foreign language environment also contributes to errors

in language learning The lack of natural linguistic inputs with native speakers results in learners‟ recourse on their language Moreover, language tasks assigned for the learners have a significant effect on their verbal production Among these tasks, translation is said to “increase the foreign language learners‟ reliance on the first language structures” (Dulay et al, 1982:110) Lastly, an important factor associated with the learner‟s use of foreign language acquisition is the monitor (Dulay et al, 1982:110) Learners tend to think in the first language and attempt to put the idea in the target language In short, the first language interference takes place because of four factors: performance pressure, limited language environment, manner of eliciting verbal performance and the monitor use These four factors are defined as social factors affecting writing in foreign languages (Myles, 2002)

ii Causes independent from the first language

The common root of common errors in English does not only lie in cross-association and instinctive translation of the mother tongue, but also in the usages of English itself; for these usages provide the only factor which is common to all regions, all students and all methods (French, 1958:7) Causes independent from the first language consist of overgeneralization, false concepts hypothesized, incomplete application of rules, cross association, and fossilization

Overgeneralization: In case of overgeneralization, learners apply the

strategies they have learnt to new learning situation More specially, they base

8

on their past learning experience to produce deviant structures in the target language There are two main reasons for overgeneralization; the first one is that learners want to diminish linguistic complexities, and the other one is the superficial similarities of structures in the target language Overgeneralization

is also linked with redundancy reduction This happens when learners find that some grammatical aspects are unimportant in conveying meaning This occurrence is popular in descriptive writing which learners often use the present simple tense instead of past tense though the action happen in the past

False conceptualization: Learners‟ faulty understanding of the distinctions of

the target language items leads to false conceptualization; Richard (1971) blames poor presentation or presentation based on the contrastive approach

for the confusion such as the use of verbs “come / go”, “was / is”, of past and

present markers It is suggested that effective ways to minimize learners‟ confusion are choosing non-synonymous contexts for related words or

phrases and not using exercises based on contrast and transformation

Incomplete application of rules: According to Richard (1971), two factors

leading to an incomplete application of rules are the use of question in the classroom as elicitation techniques and learners‟ interest in communication which helps them to achieve efficient communication without a mastery of the target language rules

Cross association: George (1972) proposes that the notion of cross

association is different from overgeneralization in the way that interference does not come from the prior learning items, but from the adverse direction It

is “the phenomenon of mutual interference between partially learned items, neither being inhibited, but one or both being affected by the other” (George, 1972:153)

9

Fossilization: “Fossilization is referred as a phenomenon that takes place as a

learner internalizes an incorrect form” (Brown et al., 1987: 186) This is believed to exist in adolescents and adults‟ pronunciation, and also manifests

in some syntactic structures or vocabulary a learner uses Three factors contribute to this phenomenon: mother tongue influence, communication needs, and teachers‟ feedback

To sum up, the five causes above can explain for language learners‟ error committing However, it is difficult to decide exactly which process is applied in a certain error, and many processes might operate simultaneously and reinforce each other in causing the learners to produce errors

1.1.4 Types of errors

The achievement of language learning and teaching may not be flawless as thought The imperfection derives from the difference between the expected output of the language learning and the real result of such process While the teacher often requires and expects learners to make as few errors as possible, learners in fact commit errors of different extent and levels Due to the variety of errors, it is necessary to classify errors in specific groups The categorization of errors is based on various criteria and aspects

Richards et al (1974) believes that both children learning the first language, and children and adults learning foreign languages are likely to produce errors of following types:

i) The omission of grammatical morphemes

ii) The double marking of a given semantic feature

iii) The over generalized application of irregular rules

iv) The use of one form of several required

v) The wrong word ordering

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Nevertheless, Corder (1973) has a different way to classify errors In his view, it is the expressive and receptive behavior in language learning that cause expressive and receptive errors; learners tend to make more productive errors than receptive errors Keshavarz (2012:59) shares the same view with Corder that competence in a language is of two kinds: receptive and productive; errors can also be classified as receptive and productive Receptive errors are those which result in the listener‟s misunderstanding of the speaker‟s intentions, and productive errors are those which occur in the language learner‟s utterances

On the basis of linguistic levels, errors can be categorized into grammatical, discourse, phonological and lexical errors Grammatical errors lay emphasis on grammatical accuracy rather than fluency, which may be obstacles for communication proficiency The immediate teacher correction is not necessary if the purpose of the language course is to provide communicative proficiency Discourse errors are those related to non-observance of the target language conventions, and they are the manifestations of the leaner cultural and pragmatic knowledge of language users Phonological errors are related to incorrect pronunciation, word stress and intonation Lexical errors occur when learners use wrong word class or inappropriate words

1.1.5 The benefits of analyzing errors

Errors are normal and unavoidable during the learning process as Richard (1974: 95) mentions that no one could learn without making errors Meanwhile, Lengo (2003: 1) mentions that errors are believed to be an indicator of the learners‟ stages in their target language development So, it is important to analyze the errors because there are many benefits in analyzing the errors, such as:

1.1.6 Error analysis

Writing is a complex process even in the first language Undoubtedly, it

is more complicated to write in a foreign language Consequently, lots of researchers have intended to identify the common errors EFL students make

in writing the second language Of course, a better understanding of the error and the origin of such error in the process of EFL writing will help teachers know how students‟ difficulties in learning that language Moreover, it will aid in the adaptation of appropriate teaching strategies to help EFL students learn better

Therefore, EA can be considered as a fundamental tool in language teaching in order to reorganize teacher‟s point of view and readdress his/her methodology for fixing and fulfilling the students‟ gaps (Vasquez, 2007) In other words, as Corder (1967) defines, EA is a procedure used by both researchers and teachers which involves collecting samples of learner language, identifying the errors in the sample, describing these errors, classifying them according to their nature and causes, and evaluating their seriousness The purpose of error analysis is, in fact, to find “what the learner knows and does not know” and to “ultimately enable the teacher to supply him not just with the information that his hypothesis is wrong, but also, importantly, with the right sort of information or data for him to form a more adequate concept of a rule in the target language” (Corder, 1974: 170)

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Consequently, the review of the previous studies that follows addresses itself

to the sources of errors rather than the most frequent EFL learners‟ errors reported in various studies At first, for this review of literature, it is necessary

to study known and popular error taxonomies and classifications

1.2 An overview of English article system

Alexander (1998: 55) defines that “articles are determiners which affect the meaning of the noun, and make it clearer by showing which particular thing we are referring to” It means that the English article is the part of speech used to indicate nouns and to specify their application

1.2.1 Classification of English articles

There are two types of English articles They are definite and indefinite articles:

i Definite articles

According to Halliday and Hasan “The definite article has no content

It merely indicates that the item in question is specific and identifiable; that somewhere the information necessary for identifying it is recoverable”

(1976:71) “The definite the never varies in form whether it refers to people or

things, singular or plural” (Alexander, 1998: 55)

a Form: The

The is the same for singular and plural and for all genders:

Ex: the woman the man the book

the women the men the books

b Use of The:

-Before a noun which has become definite as a result of being mentioned a second time

Ex: I have bought a car The car is over there

-Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause:

13

Ex: The pupil in uniform The boy with the red hat

The woman that I knew The house where he lived -When the object or group of objects is unique or considered to be unique:

Ex: the earth the sea the sky the equator the stars

-Before superlative and first, second… used as adjectives or pronouns, and only:

Ex: The first week the best day the only way

-Before a noun which by reason of locality can represent only one particular thing:

Ex: Ann is in the garden (the garden of this house)

Please pass the wine, please (the wine on the table)

-The + singular noun can represent a class of animals or things:

Ex: The whale is in danger of becoming extinct

The can be used before a member of a certain group of people:

Ex: The small shopkeeper is finding life increasingly difficult

-The + adjective represents a class of persons

Ex: The old = old people in general

-The is used before certain proper names of seas, rivers, group of islands,

chains of mountains, plural names of countries, deserts, regions:

Ex: The Atlantic The Netherlands The Thames

The Sahara The Azores The Alps

-The is used before other proper names consisting of adjective + noun or noun + of + noun

Ex: The National gallery The Tower of London

The definite article (the) is not used:

-Before names of people

-Before abstract nouns except when they are used in a particular sense:

Ex: Men fear death

(But: The death of Prime Minister left his party without a leader.) -After a noun in the possessive case, or a possessive adjective:

Ex: The boy‟s uncle = the uncle of the boy

It‟s my (blue) book = the (blue) book is mine

-Before names of meals:

Ex: The Scots have porridge for breakfast

(But: The wedding breakfast was held in her family‟s house.) -Before names of games:

Ex: He plays gold

ii Indefinite articles

Quirk et al (1985:272) give this definition:

The indefinite article is notionally the “unmarked” article in the sense that is

used (for singular count nouns) where the condition for the use of the do not

obtain That is, a/ an X will be used where the reference of X is not uniquely identifiable in the shared knowledge of speaker and hearer

a Form: A - An

A is used before a word beginning with a consonant, or a vowel with a

consonant sound:

A / An is the same for all genders:

Ex: a man a woman an actor an actress a table

…

b Use of A / An

- Before a singular noun which is countable (i.e., of which there is more than one) when it is mentioned for the first time and represents no particular person or thing

Ex: They live in a flat He bought an ice-cream

- Before a singular countable noun which is used as an example of a class of things:

Ex: A car must be insured (= All cars /Any car must be insured.)

- With a noun complement This includes names of professions:

Ex: She‟ll be a dancer

- In certain expressions of quantity:

Ex: a lot of a great many a great deal of a

couple a dozen

-With certain numbers:

Ex: a hundred a thousand a half kilo of…

- In expressions of price, speed, ratio…

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-In exclamations before singular, countable nouns:

Ex: Such a long queue! What a pretty girl!

c Omission of A / An

A / An is omitted:

-Before plural nouns

A/An has no plural form So the plural of a dog is dogs, and an egg is

eggs

-Before uncountable nouns

-Before names of meals, except when these are preceded by an adjective:

Ex: We have breakfast at eight

He gave us a good breakfast

1.2.2 System of article usage

Quirk and Greenbaum (1973) set up two different systems of article use depending on the type of reference:

Ink

With definite specific reference, the definite article is used for all noun classes:

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Ex: Where is the pen I bought?

Where are the pens I bought?

Where is the ink I bought?

With indefinite specific reference, singular count nouns take the indefinite

article a(n), while non-count and plural count nouns take zero article or unstressed some (any) in non- assertive contexts

Ex: I want a pen / some pens / some ink

I don‟t want a pen / any pens / any ink

2 Previous studies on similar theme

Much research has been conducted with a focus on analysis of error in writing Bataineh (2005: 56) claims “unlike earlier error analyses, native language transfer is found to play a role which is at best minimal” Of course, his study exclusively aims at identifying the kinds of errors Jordanian first, second, third and fourth year university EFL students made in the use of the indefinite article The nine types of errors are as follows:

(1) deletion of the indefinite article

(2) writing a as part of the noun/ adjective following it

(3) substitution of the indefinite for the definite article

(4) substitution of the definite for the indefinite article

(5) substitution of a for an

(6) use of the indefinite article with unmarked plurals

(7) use of the indefinite article with marked plurals

(8) use of the indefinite article with uncountable nouns, and

(9) use of the indefinite article with adjectives

Another grammatical error that is frequently found in Taiwanese EFL students‟ compositions is the misuse of English articles Chen (2000) considers that English articles could be one of the most difficult grammatical