Analysis of “Come†Errors in Written Compositions of Secondary School Students in Kwara State

Human being is characterized as distinct for the use of language and his ability to acquire and/or learn a language, with which he can explore and deplore the nature as well as nurture of settings, situations and creations. Despite the gift, he is flawed with imperfection thereby making him commit errors, even in language. Errors are deviant forms of language for breaking the standard rule guiding the use of the language. COME is an acronym for Content, Organization, Mechanics and Expression as features of written composition; hence, errors committed on these features are termed COME errors. This study analyzed COME errors in the written compositions of secondary school students in Kwara State and specifically examined the influence of their field of study, gender, school location and school type on the subject. The study adopted descriptive survey research; secondary school students III constituted the population for the study. 411 students were selected as sample using random and stratified sampling techniques. A researcher-designed test titled “Written Composition Test†was used as instrument for data collection. The instrument was validated using content validity and then tested reliable for obtaining 0.69 coefficient using a test-retest method of three-week interval and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation. The findings of the study showed that Kwara State secondary school students committed content, mechanic, organization and expression (COME) errors in their written compositions with mechanics being the most committed errors, and all the variables, except gender, created a significant difference in the COME errors in the written compositions of secondary school students in Kwara State. It was therefore recommended, among others, that teachers should reform and redesign their methods and strategies of teaching writing composition while targeting how COME errors can be avoided and students should be further exposed to various forms of COME errors and how to avoid them in their compositions.