Error Analysis: A Tool to Improve English Skills of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

This study aims to make the Business English language courses more effective for Bachelor's students. For this purpose the evaluation of the writing component of a four months’ Business Communication course was conducted at the Mohammad Ali Jinnah University Islamabad It was based on the idea that effectiveness in English writing can be achieved by identifying, categorizing and analyzing the most prominent errors made by the English as a Second Language Students in written tasks. Consequently, the teachers would be able to focus only on these specific type of errors which required remedial work instead of wasting time on other errors which were not made as frequently by ESL students. Thus, this study entering the realm of English for Specific Purposes, aimed at customizing the Business English curriculum for Business students. Frequent errors were noted down from their writing tasks in assorted creative writing exercises conducted during the two months prior to the first evaluation. Out of the various errors visible in their writing, the verb tense errors, mainly, the past and present were the most common errors. From the results it was established that in both tenses combined, the Second Language Influence errors were more frequent. The second most frequent category of errors was the First Language interference. The Transfer of Structure errors, and the Overextension of Analogy errors followed respectively. Based on the outcomes of this study, these errors were the main focus in the remedial English Teaching that followed in the last two months of the semester. It saved valuable teaching time, and made the need based Business English writing training for MAJU students more effective. A second evaluation at the end of the semester showed a marked improvement in the accuracy of the use of verb tenses. This research, using, error analysis as a tool to improve Business Communication skills of undergraduate students could be applied to similar bilingual settings in other institutions in Functional English courses.