Luận Văn A study on common grammatical and lexical errors in writing compositions made by the first year Engl

Khóa luận tốt nghiệp năm 2013
Đề tài: A study on common grammatical and lexical errors in writing compositions made by the first year English major students at Hai Phong Private University and some suggested solutions




TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale 1
2. Aim of the study 1
3. Scope of the study . 2
4. Method of study 3
5. Design of study . 3
PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1. Academic writing 4
1.1. Definition 4
1.2. Characteristic features . 4
1.2.1. Audience 4
1.2.2.Tone 4
1.2.3. Purpose . 5
2.Composition . 6
3. Error 6
4. Grammatical errors . 6
4.1.Definition of grammar 6
4.2. Grammatical errors classification . 7
4.2.1. Ignorance of rules 7
4.2.1.1. Subject-verb agreement . 7
4.2.1.2 .Subject omission . 7
4.2.1.3. Word order 7
4.2.1.4. Adjective / Adverb 7
4.2.1.5. Verb form 8
4.2.1.6. Verb tense . 8
4.2.1.7. Pronoun . 8
4.2.1.8. Comparative . 8
4.2.1.9. Demonstrative adjective 8
4.2.1.10.Article . 8
4.2.1.11. Possessive noun . 9
4.2.1.12.Parallelism . 9
4.2.1.13.Preposition 9
4.2.1.14.Run-on sentences 9
4.2.2. Overgeneralization 9
4.2.3. Negative transfer . 9
5. Lexical errors 10
5.1.Definition of lexis . 10
5.2. Lexical errors classification . 11
5.2.1.Synonym errors . 11
5.2.1.1.Definition of synonym 11
5.2.1.2.Synonym errors . 11
5.2.2.Stylistic errors . 16
5.2.2.1.Definition of stylistics . 16
5.2.2.2 .Stylistic errors . 16
5.2.2.2.1.Verbosity . 16
5.2.2.2.2.Underspecification 16
5.2.3.Collocation errors 17
5.2.3.1. Definition of collocation . 17
5.2.3.2. Collocation errors . 17
5.2.3.2.1.Restricted combination . 17
5.2.3.2.2.Multi-word expression . 20
CHAPTER 2: THE COMMON GRAMMATICAL AND LEXICAL
ERRORS IN WRITING COMPOSITIONS MADE BY THE FIRST
YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS
1. The common grammatical and lexical errors in writing compositions
made by the first year English major students . 23
1.1.The common grammatical errors in writing compositions made by
the first year English major students . 23
1.2. The common lexical errors in writing compositions made by the
first year English major students . 26
CHAPTER 3: THE MAJOR CAUSES OF GRAMMATICAL AND
LEXICAL ERRORS IN WRITING COMPOSITIONS MADE BY
THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AND
SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS.
1. The major causes of grammatical and lexical errors of the first year
English major students 27
1.1. Poor knowledge of English grammar . 27
1.2.Laziness 28
1.3. The influence of using Vietnamese grammar 29
1.4. Poor knowledge of English lexis 35
2. Suggested solutions 30
2.1.Self-correction . 31
2.2.Peer correction . 31
2.3.Teacher correction . 31
PART III. CONCLUSION
I. Conclusion . 32
II. Suggestions for further study . 32
REFERENCES 33
APPENDIX 1 34
APPENDIX 2 39
APPENDIX 3 41




PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Nowadays, English is used in a majority of countries in the world, as it is one
of the most important languages for international communication. It has
become a compulsory subject in many schools, colleges and universities.
However, it is not easy to master a foreign language. Like many other
universities, English major students at Haiphong Private University are taught
four skills such as listening, writing, reading and speaking right from the first
term. Of the four skills, many students consider writing the most difficult
because it requires the knowledge and professional use of grammar and lexis
to write a composition as well as a complete essay. Writing is different from
speaking. In spoken language, we use many unfinished sentences and
ungrammatical structures. However, written language requires formal lexis,
correct spelling and grammar structure as well as well organized sentences
and ideas.
Writing is used as a basic learning skill and requires a hard working process
and continuous practice. A first year English major student at HPU gets
used to many writing tasks such as topic- based writing paragraphs, a letter,
etc. He or she has to think clearly about what and how to write in order to
have a good writing Therefore, it is time for us to pay more attention to
appropriate grammar and lexis usage because good grammar and lexis show
that a student or a writer has a good competence of English . A student in the
first year should take serious consideration into grammar and lexis usage in
writing. However, many first year English major students actually make
many grammatical and lexical mistakes, which urges me to choose a study on
grammatical and lexical errors made by first year English major students at
Haiphong Private University as my graduation paper.
2. Aims of the study.
The minor purpose of the study focuses on helping the first year English
major students at Haiphong Private University as well as myself to have a
- 2 -general understanding of errors in writing compositions. The major aim is
identifying the grammatical and lexical errors in details, their possible causes
of making these errors and suggested solutions. That includes:
Finding out the grammatical and lexical errors made by first year
English major students at HPU while writing compositions.
Finding the possible causes as well as effective solutions for these
frequently-made grammatical and lexical errors.
3. Scope of the study.
Grammar and lexis are ranked as main and difficult aspects in linguistic.
Moreover because of limited time and knowledge, the study only focuses on
finding out the most common grammatical and lexical errors made by the first
year English major students when they write the compositions as writing tasks
in their second semester of the first year . From that point, I hope to be able to
carry out the study of identifying the common errors of grammar and lexis
and helping them find out the effective solutions.
4. Method of study.
With the purpose of the study is to help the first year English major students
find out their common grammatical and lexical errors in writing composition
and the causes of these errors, my methods are:
+ Material collection through reference books related to English writing,
grammar, and lexis.
+ A survey among the first year English major students at HPU is carried out
to find out their common errors and major causes.
+ Data analysis.
5. Design of study.
My graduation paper includes four parts as following:
Part I: Introduction is the introduction of my study including rationale, aims
of the study, scope of the study method of study and design of the study.
- 3 -Part II: The study on grammatical and lexical errors of the first year English
major students, the main part of my study contains three chapters.
- Chapter 1: Theoretical background supplies the readers with the theoretical
background including the theory of academic writing, composition, error,
grammatical error and lexical error .
-Chapter 2: Grammatical and lexical errors of the first year English major
students at HPU. All the most common errors in using grammar and lexis of
the first year English major students are specifically mentioned.
-Chapter 3: Causes of errors and the suggested solutions to avoid these errors.
Part III: Conclusion and suggestions for further study.




REFERENCES
I. Book.
1. Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue. Writing Academic English (second
edition). Addision Wesley Publishing Company. Gorman, T.P.,
2. Purves, A.C., & Degenhart, R.E. (Eds.). (1988). The IEA Study of Written
Composition I: The international writing tasks and scoring scales. Oxford:
Pergamon Press.
3. Jame A.W.Heffernan and John E. Lincoln. (2006). Writing – A College
Handbook.
4. Joy M.R. (1991). The Process of Writing (Second edition). Prentice Hall
Pregents.
5. Micheal Swan. (1999-2000). Practical English Usage (new
6. edition).
7. Purves, A.C. (Ed.). (1992). The IEA Study of Written Composition II:
Education and performance in fourteen countries. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
8. Rebecca L.Oxford and Meredrith Pike- Baky,(2000), Tapestry writing 1,
Heinle - Cenage learning.
II. Websites.
9. (www.en.wikipedia.org/composition)( update :16/5/2013)
10. (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.: 17/5/2013)
11. (www.bingotermdict.com.Gw&psj=1&bav=on. )(update:21/5/2013)
12. (www.dictionary.com 58d28f6&biw=1280&bih=648)(update:27/5/2013)
13. (www.enwiki.org/grammar60d7615bd58d28f6)(update:28/5/2013)
14. (www.englishlearning.com.C8kWYjwuAVg&psj=1)(update:28/5/2013)
15. (www.englishcollacation.com)(update:29/5/2013)
16. (www.learningenglish.&fp=60d7615)(update:29/5/2013)
17. (www.grammar.about.com/idioms)(update:5/6/2013)