Omani Students’ Written Errors and Improvements with Special Reference to Paragraph Writing: A Cross-Sectional Study

The present study aimed at discovering the writing errors of Omani undergraduate students with special reference to essay writing. In this regard, fifty writing final examination papers from five different levels were selected to be investigated. To begin with, the writings of the students were categorized into two different classes based on their levels, i.e., the upper vs. the lower levels. Then, using a ten-dimensional model developed by Sattayatham & Ratanapinyowong (2008), each criterion for good paragraph writing was reviewed. In case the criterion was not observed by a student, it was noted down by the researchers. In search for statistical significant differences among the frequencies of errors in the two levels, the Chi-Square procedure was applied. The result of the test revealed statistically significant differences among the frequencies of the errors committed by the two afore-mentioned groups of students. Finally, some relative discussions were made in terms of the nature of errors committed by each group of students.