A Comparative Analysis of Written Errors of Turkish, Azerbaijani and Syrian Students in English Writing Skills


Abstract views: 212 / PDF downloads: 38

Authors

  • Mustafa POLAT

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33200/ijcer.470855

Keywords:

Foreign language education, Writing skill, Errors in writing skills, Comparative error analysis, Interlingual errors

Abstract

This study aims to do a comparative analysis of the writing errors of Turkish, Azerbaijani and Syrian university students studying in English preparatory classes in the context of grammatical, lexical and spelling errors. The data of this qualitative case study were obtained from the 15 English preparatory class students from Turkey (N=5), Syria (N=5) and Azerbaijan (N=5). They were studying at A2 (pre-intermediate) level classes at the school of foreign languages of a state university in the northwest of Turkey. In order to get the information from the writing errors made by the students, 60 pieces of their writing papers were collected through the document analysis technique. The research data were analyzed through the content analysis. The findings revealed that Turkish, Azerbaijani and Syrian students have some differences in terms of both the number and the types of writing errors. On the other hand, Turkish and Azerbaijani students have also a lot of similarities, but they differ from Syrian students in almost all types of errors. In the light of the findings of this study, it has been concluded that most of the errors resulted from the mother tongue and culture-related negative transfers are frequently encountered ones in the teaching process of writing skills.

Author Biography

Mustafa POLAT

Corresponding Author: Mustafa POLAT, mustafapolat@karabuk.edu.tr, Karabük University, Turkey

References

Abisamra, N. (2003). An analysis of errors in Arabic speakers’ English writing. Retrieved from http://abisamra03.tripod.com/nada/languageacq-erroranalysis.html

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.

Adıgüzel, S. (2012). Azerbaycan Türkçesi ve Türkiye Türkçesi arasında aktarma üzerine bazı problemler. A. Ü. Türkiyat Araştırmaları Enstitüsü Dergisi, 47, 51-56.

Akalın, H. Ş. Türk dili: Dünya dili. Türk Dili, 687, 195-204.

Al-Buainain, H. (2009). Students’ writing errors in EFL: A case study. Alexandria Engineering Journal Volume, 19(1), 311-351.

Alhaysony, M. (2012). An analysis of article errors among Saudi female EFL students: A case study. Asian Social Science, 8(12), 55-66.

Al-Marrani, A. M. Y. (2009). A comparative and contrastive study of preposition in Arabic and English. Language in India, 9(7), 47-68.

Arıcı, A. F. (2008). Üniversite öğrencilerinin yazılı anlatım hataları. Uludağ Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, XXI(2), 209-220.

Asma, T. (2010). Transfer of simple prepositions from standard Arabic into English: The case of third year LMD students of English language at Mentouri University-Constantine. Unpublished M.A. Thesis. Mentouri University-Constantine, Algeria.

Ayaz, S. E. (2011). Eş anlamlılığın bilimsel temelleri ve Türkiye Türkçesi ile Azerbaycan Türkçesindeki eş anlamlıların karşılaştırılması. Unpublished M.A. Thesis. Kafkas University-Kars, Türkiye.

Barış, G. (2016). Azerbaycan Türkçesinin söz varlığının Türkiye Türkçesi ile karşılaştırılması. Unpublished M.A. Thesis. Pamukkale University-Denizli, Algeria.

Bloor, M. & Wood, F. (2006). Keywords in qualitative research: A vocabulary of research concepts. London: Sage.

Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27-40.

Bozorgian, H. (2012). The relationship between listening and other language skills in international English language testing system. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(4), 657-663.

Brown, D. H. (2014). Principles of language learning and teaching (6th Ed.) US: Pearson Education ESL.

Cook, V. (2001). Using the first language in the classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57(3), 402-423.

Corder, S.P. (1974). Error analysis, in Allen, J.L.P. and Corder, S.P. (1974). Techniques in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Darus, S. & Ching, K. (2009). Common errors in written English essays of form one Chinese students: A case study. European Journal of Social Sciences, 10(2): 242-253.

Demirdağ, D. (2014). Türkiye Türkçesi ve Azerbaycan Türkçesinde cümle ögelerinin karşılaştırılması üzerine. Salaflar ve Xalaflar I. Beynelxalq Simpoziumu. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284715793_Turkiye_Turkcesi_ve_Azerbaycan_Turkcesinde_cumle_ogelerinin_karsilastirilmasi_uzerine

Elkılıç, G. (2012). Mother tongue traces of Turkish university students on composition papers written in English. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 47, 656 – 664.

Elkılıç, G., Han, Turgay, & Aydın, S. (2009). Punctuation and capitalisation errors of Turkish EFL students in composition classes: An evidence of L1 interference. In 1st International Symposium on Sustainable Development, June 9-10, 2009, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 279-284.

Erdoğan, V. (2005). Contribution of error analysis to foreign language teaching. Mersin University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 1(2), 261-270.

Gbrich, C. (2007). Qualitative data analysis: An introduction (1st Ed.). London: Sage Publications.

Göksel, A. & Kerslake, C. (2005). Turkish grammar: A comprehensive grammar. London & New York: Routledge.

Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Mason, L. (2005). Improving the writing performance, knowledge, and self-efficacy of struggling young writers: The effects of self-regulated strategy development. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30(2), 207-241. DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2004.08.001

Hacıyeva, G. (2008). Azerbaycan ve Türkiye Türkçesinin ortak diyalektizmleri. The Journal Of International Social Research, 1(3), 200-218.

Hammad, A. E. (2012). Teaching and learning English reading in Gaza prep schools: A Descriptive study. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Cairo University, Egypt.

Harmer, J. (2015). The practice of English language teaching (5th Ed.). London: Pearson Longman.

Hasan, A., & Abdullah. I. (2009). The conceptual mapping of the English preposition in into Arabic. European Journal of Social Sciences, 8(4), 604-613.

Heydari, P. & Bagheri, M. S. (2012). Error analysis: Sources of L2 learners’ errors. Theory and practice in language studies, 2(8), 1583-1589.

Hinnon, A. (2004). Common errors in English writing and suggested solutions of Thai university students. มนุษยศาสตร สังคมศาสตร, 31(2), 165-180.

Hourani, T. M. Y. (2008). An Analysis of the Common Grammatical Errors in the English Writing made by 3rd Secondary Male Students in the Eastern Coast of the UAE. Doctoral dissertation, British University in Dubai.

Hubackova, S. & Golkova, D. (2014). Podcasting in foreign language teaching. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 143, 143-146.

Huwari, F.İ. & Al-khasawneh, M. F. (2013). The reasons behind the weaknesses of writing in English among pre-year students’ at Taibah university. English for Specific Purposes World, 38(14), 1-9.

Hyland, K. (2002). Teaching and researching writing. Harlow, UK: Longman.

Jabeen, A. Kazemian, B. & Mustafai, M. S. (2015). The role of error analysis in teaching and learning of second and foreign language. Education and Linguistics Research. 1(2): 52-61.

Jalabneh, M. A. (2011). Syntactic analysis of a pro in independent clauses in Arabic syntax. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(6), 572-583.

James, C. (1998). Errors in language learning and use. New York: Addison Wesley Longman Limited.

Jenwitheesuk, T. (2009). A study of persisted syntactic errors in writing of the 3rd year students of English for international communication program. Paper presented at the The Role of Universities in Hands-on Education.

Kalfa, M. Noktalama işaretlerinin Türkçenin öğretimindeki yeri ve önemi. Unpublished PhD Dissertation. Ankara University-Ankara, Turkey.

Kaweera, C. (2013). Writing error: A review of interlingual and intralingual interference in EFL context. English Language Teaching, 6(7), 9-18.

Kern, R. (2000). Literacy and language teaching. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Kesmez, A. (2015). An analysis of the L1 interference errors of Turkish university students in their written productions. International Journal of Social Sciences, 34, 393-400.

Khansir, A. A. (2012). Error analysis and second language acquisition. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(5), 1027-1032.

Kharma, N. N., Hajjaj, S. H. A. (1997). Errors is English among Arabic speakers: Analysis and remedies. Beirut : Librairie du Liban.

Kırkgöz, Y. (2010). An analysis of written errors of Turkish adult learners of English. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 4352 – 4358.

Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press

Li, F., Ren, J., Zhao,H. (2016). Grammatical mistakes in college English writing: Problem analysis, reasons and solutions. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 2(3), 20-28.

Liu, M. (2013). An investigation of syntactic errors in Chinese undergraduate EFL learners’ compositions: A cohort study. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2, 182-191.

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded Sourcebook. (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mohammad, T. & Hazarika, Z. (2016). Difficulties of Learning EFL in KSA: Writing Skills in Context. International Journal of English Linguistics, 6(3), 105-117.

Mokhamar, W. N. (2016). The impact of integrating reading and writing skills on Palestine technical college students' paragraph writing and attitudes. Retrieved from http://library.iugaza.edu.ps/thesis/119547.pdf

Park, J. & Brenna, B. (2015). The value of writing for senior-citizen writers. Language and Literacy, 17(3), 100-117.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Phuket, P. R. N., & Othman, N. B. (2015). Understanding EFL students’ errors in writing. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(32), 99-106.

Ridha, N. (2012). The effect of EFL learners’ mother tongue on their writings in English: An error analysis study. Journal of the College of Arts, 60, 22-45.

Sermsook, K., Liamnimitr, J., & Pochakorn, R. (2017). An Analysis of Errors in Written English Sentences : A Case Study of Thai EFL Students. English Language Teaching, 10(3), 101-110.

Swan, M. & Smith, B. (2001). Learner English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Taşçı, S. & Aksu Ataç, B. (2018). Written grammatical errors of Turkish adult learners of English: An analysis. Journal of International Social Sciences Education, 4(1), 1-13.

Tillema, M. (2012). Writing in first and second language: Empirical studies on text quality and writing processes. Retrieved from https://www.lotpublications.nl/writing-in-first-and-second-language-writing-in-first-and-second-language-empirical-studies-on-text-quality-and-writing-processes

Uğurlu, M. (2012). Türk lehçeleri arasında benzer kelimelerin eş değerlik durumu. Turkish Studies - International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic, 7(4), 215-222.

Watcharapunyawong, S., & Usaha, S. (2013). Thai EFL students' writing errors in different text types: The interference of the first language. English Language Teaching, 6(1), 67-78.

Wu, H. & Garza, V. E. (2014). Types and attributes of English writing errors in the EFL context—A study of error analysis. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 5(6), 1256-1262.

Yıldız, Z. (2002). Değişik öğretim kademelerindeki öğrencilerin yazım ve noktalama kurallarını uygulama düzeyleri. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta-Turkey.

Zheng, C., & Park, T. (2013). An analysis of errors in English writing made by Chinese and Korean university students. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(8), 1342-1351.

Downloads

Published

2022-10-30

How to Cite

POLAT, M. (2022). A Comparative Analysis of Written Errors of Turkish, Azerbaijani and Syrian Students in English Writing Skills. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 5(2), 64–78. https://doi.org/10.33200/ijcer.470855

Issue

Section

Articles