A Corpus-based Study of EFL Learners’ Errors in IELTS Essay Writing

Hoda Divsar,Robab Heydari

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.3p.143

Hoda Divsar, Robab Heydari

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.3p.143

Copy DOI

Abstract

The present study analyzed different types of errors in the EFL learners’ IELTS essays. In order to determine the major types of errors, a corpus of 70 IELTS examinees’ writings were collected, and their errors were extracted and categorized qualitatively. Errors were categorized based on a researcher-developed error-coding scheme into 13 aspects. Based on the descriptive statistical analyses, the frequency of each error type was calculated and the commonest errors committed by the EFL learners in IELTS essays were identified. The results indicated that the two most frequent errors that IELTS candidates committed were related to word choice and verb forms. Based on the research results, pedagogical implications highlight analyzing EFL learners’ writing errors as a useful basis for instructional purposes including creating pedagogical teaching materials that are in line with learners’ linguistic strengths and weaknesses.

Highlights

English occupies the status of a foreign language for the majority of the Iranian learners
Based on the descriptive statistical analyses, the frequency of each error type was calculated and the commonest errors committed by the English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in IELTS essays were identified
The results indicated that the two most frequent errors that IELTS candidates committed were related to word choice and verb forms

Summary

Introduction

English occupies the status of a foreign language for the majority of the Iranian learners. Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) is not an easy task. According to Brown (2000), in order to become proficient in English language, learners have to be adequately exposed to all four basic skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. Among the four language skills, writing is the most difficult one since it needs a higher level of productive language control (Celce-Murcia & Olshtain, 2000). Writing is a complex task and writing in a foreign language makes the task more complex as it needs adequate command over the language to fulfill all the essential formalities for a written text to be comprehensible. Regardless of its challenging aspects, L2 writing is widely considered in international EFL/ESL testing systems such as TOEFL and IELTS (Askarzadeh Torghabeh & Yazdanmehr, 2010). Mastery of writing skills is seen as one of the most contributing factors that can lead to success in an IELTS test

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion