Grammatical Errors In Spoken English Of University Students In Oral Communication Course

The present study examines the grammatical errors in spoken English of universitystudents who are less proficient in English. The specific objectives of the study are todetermine the types of errors and the changes in grammatical accuracy during theduration of the English for Social Purposes course focussing on oral communication. Thelanguage data were obtained from the simulated oral interactions of 42 studentsparticipating in five role play situations during the 14-week semester. Error analysis of126 oral interactions showed that the five common grammar errors made by the learnersare preposition, question, article, plural form of nouns, subject-verb agreement and tense.Based on Dulay, Burt and Krashen’s (1982) surface structure taxonomy, the main waysby which students modify the target forms are misinformation and omission, withaddition of elements or misordering being less frequent. The results also showed anincrease in grammatical accuracy in the students’ spoken English towards the end of thecourse.