A Cross-Sectional Study of Omani EFL Students’ Competency in Using English Grammatical Aspect Categories

Abstract

This cross-sectional study has been launched to explore the Omani EFL students’ competency in using English grammatical aspect categories. It determined the most challenging aspect category and differences attributed to the study level and gender. The sample of the study consisted of 120 students representing the four levels of a four-semester General Foundation Program (GFP) at the English Language Unit, Center for Preparatory Studies, University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS) in Salalah, Sultanate of Oman. Data were collected via a competency test and analyzed statistically using SPSS (Version 26.0). Findings showcase great variations in the competency of the learners across the four levels. The lowest scores of competencies were relevant to the first two levels of the program. The students in the third level scored higher, but the highest competency was evident in the scores of the fourth-level students. Concerning gender, there is no significant difference in the level of competency in aspect categories among male and female students at the four levels. The present perfect tense had the lowest competency across all four levels. Hence, it is considered the most problematic grammatical aspect because, unlike Arabic, English has numerous verbal tense and aspect categories that demand detailed knowledge, and this poses difficulties for Omani EFL learners at the entry-levels of the General Foundation Program. Learners at the entry-level seem to be more influenced by their mother-tongue (Arabic) grammatical system. This study can be used as a roadmap to tackle areas of difficulty in learning the English grammatical system, specifically the aspect categories.