AN ANALYSIS OF ERRORS IN WRITING AMONG ADULT PERSIAN LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

Learning a foreign language is a complex process where there are no enough exposures to the learners. This will affect on different skills learners try to learn. This study investigates writing skills in adult Persian-speaking learners from Iran who were learning English at Parsa language institute in Bavanat, Fars. To do so, 40 Persian learners of English participated in the study. They were asked to write about two different topics based on their book (Top Notch 1A). For data analysis the researcher followed Keshavarz (2001) and Corder (1973) model of error analysis: first errors were identified and then the researcher classified them into three major categories, they are: 1. Orthographic Errors, 2. Syntactico-morphological Errors, and 3. Lexico-semantic Errors. Then the errors were categorized into four subcategories based on Corder (1973): omissions, additions, misformation and misordering. The results of the study showed that errors in foreign language learning can be seen as a natural phenomenon and also the crucial role of L1 is inevitable. For learners, error analysis is important as it shows the areas of difficulty in their writing. Outcomes of the study may be helpful for teachers to be more careful about learners` performances in the process of learning a foreign language.