IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/eltjnl/v10y2017i3p101.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Analysis of Errors in Written English Sentences: A Case Study of Thai EFL Students

Author

Listed:
  • Kanyakorn Sermsook
  • Jiraporn Liamnimitr
  • Rattaneekorn Pochakorn

Abstract

The purposes of the present study were to examine the language errors in a writing of English major students in a Thai university and to explore the sources of the errors. This study focused mainly on sentences because the researcher found that errors in Thai EFL students’ sentence construction may lead to miscommunication. 104 pieces of writing written by 26 second-year English major students who enrolled in the Writing II course were collected and analyzed. Results showed that the most frequently committed errors were punctuation, articles, subject-verb agreement, spelling, capitalization, and fragment, respectively. Interlingual interference, intralingual interference, limited knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary, and carelessness of the students were found to be the major sources of the errors. It is suggested that intensive knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary be taught to Thai EFL students. Moreover, the negative transfer of students’ first language should be taken into account in English writing classes. This finding also implies that explicit feedback on students’ writing errors is genuinely needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Kanyakorn Sermsook & Jiraporn Liamnimitr & Rattaneekorn Pochakorn, 2017. "An Analysis of Errors in Written English Sentences: A Case Study of Thai EFL Students," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(3), pages 101-101, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibn:eltjnl:v:10:y:2017:i:3:p:101
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/download/66264/35834
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/view/66264
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Somchai Watcharapunyawong & Siriluck Usaha, 2013. "Thai EFL Students’ Writing Errors in Different Text Types: The Interference of the First Language," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(1), pages 1-67, January.
    2. Chittima Kaweera, 2013. "Writing Error: A Review of Interlingual and Intralingual Interference in EFL Context," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(7), pages 1-9, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shereen Sahla & Sultan Altalhab, 2022. "Implementing Wiki as an Asynchronous Tool to Enhance the Grammatical and Lexical Accuracy of Saudi Secondary-School Learners’ EFL Writing," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(10), pages 1-45, October.
    2. Mana Termjai, 2024. "Peer Feedback in Thai EFL Writing: Students’ Perceptions, Accuracy, and Revisions," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 17(8), pages 1-10, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paola Alexandra Cabrera Solano & Paul Fernando Gonzalez Torres & Cesar Augusto Ochoa Cueva & Ana Lucia Quinonez Beltran & Luz Mercedes Castillo Cuesta & Lida Mercedes Solano Jaramillo & Franklin Oswal, 2014. "Spanish Interference in EFL Writing Skills: A Case of Ecuadorian Senior High Schools," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 7(7), pages 1-40, July.
    2. Sahar Nasser Alshumaimmeri & Reem Alqarni, 2022. "Teacher and Student Perceptions of CALL Feedback: Synchronous and Asynchronous Teacher Electronic Feedback in EFL-Writing at King Saud University," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(12), pages 114-114, December.
    3. Pham Vu Phi Ho & Pham Ngoc Thuy Duong, 2015. "Common errors in writing journals of the English major students at Ho Chi Minh City Open University," HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE - SOCIAL SCIENCES, HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY, vol. 5(1), pages 13-22.
    4. Singkham Rakpa, 2022. "Enhancing Thai-English Translation Capabilities of EFL Undergraduates with the Principle of Haujai Nakpraj (Learned-man Approach)," World Journal of English Language, Sciedu Press, vol. 12(8), pages 1-60, December.
    5. Kultida Khammee & Apiwit Liang-itsara & Singhanat Nomnian & Seongha Rhee, 2024. "The Effects of Using Scientific Genre to Promote Undergraduate Students’ English Academic Writing in an ESP Course," World Journal of English Language, Sciedu Press, vol. 14(3), pages 170-170, May.
    6. Raveewan Wanchid, 2013. "The Use of Self-Correction, Paper-pencil Peer Feedback and Electronic Peer Feedback in the EFL Writing Class: Opportunities and Challenges," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Richtmann Publishing Ltd, vol. 2, November.
    7. Bayatee Dueraman, 2015. "The Crucial Point in Time Where Thai Students Are Introduced English Language Writing," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(9), pages 1-96, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:eltjnl:v:10:y:2017:i:3:p:101. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.