The Grammatical Errors Made by EFL Students

Abstract

This study aimed to find out the type of the grammatical errors made by English
Department Students Batch 2016 at Lambung Mangkurat University in
describing people orally. This was descriptive qualitative study. The population
of this study was 78 students of Intermediate speaking classes. The sampling
technique was cluster sampling technique. The sample was the students of
Intermediate Speaking class A2. The instrument was oral test, and the researcher
used test-retest method when collected the data. The test was conducted three
times in the time range about a week. The findings of this study were classified
based on types of Corder’s error classification. The types of errors that made by
the students when described the people were error of omission such as omission
of suffix –s, have/has, and auxiliary. Errors of selection are selection error of
auxiliary, pronoun, and tense. Error of ordering was the ordering error of some
adjectives. Therefore, it is suggested that for the lecturer to give treatment or
practice to the students towards their grammatical errors in describing people. It
is because the English Department students are prospective English teachers.
They have to speak grammatically correct. If they give the wrong example, it
will be imitated by their students. Besides that, the English Department students
should read more English grammar book and practice their knowledge to
improve their skill in speaking.