An Analysis of Errors Committed by Saudi Non-English Major Students in the English Paragraph Writing - A Study of Comparisons

Oct 15, 2026

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The study investigates writing errors made by ninety Saudi non-English major undergraduate students across different proficiency levels from three faculties at King Khalid University. Participants studied English as a foundation course at the English Language Center in the College of Languages & Translation during 2016–17. Errors in English paragraph writing are grouped into four categories: grammar, lexis, semantics, and mechanics, then compared by type and frequency across student groups. Grammar is the most error-prone area. Medicine students commit the fewest errors overall, while Engineering students commit the most; Computer Science ranks second.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Objective of the Study

Research Questions

Significance of the Study

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 [www.alls.aiac.org.au](www.alls.aiac.org.au) | An Analysis of Errors Committed by Saudi Non-English Major Students in the English Paragraph Writing: A Study of Comparisons
Mohammed Nuruzzaman1, A B M Shafiqul Islam1*, Israt Jahan Shuchi2
1Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2Girls’Community College, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Corresponding Author: A B M Shafiqul Islam, E-mail: [shafiqju30@gmail.com](shafiqju30@gmail.com) | | | --- | --- | | ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT
The present study investigates the writing errors of ninety Saudi non-English major undergraduate students of different proficiency levels from three faculties, who studied English as a foundation course at the English Language Center in the College of Languages &Translation at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia in the academic year 2016-17. The findings reveal that the common errors the Saudi EFL students make in writing English paragraphs fall under four categories namely grammar, lexis, semantics and mechanics. Then it compares the categories, types and frequency of errors committed by these three groups of students. Among these categories, grammar has been observed as the most error-prone area where students commit errors the most. The study also posits that among the three groups, the students of the College of Medicine make the minimum errors in all the types and the highest number of errors is committed by the students of Engineering College. The College of Computer Science is in the second position in making errors. The frequency of error types is also found different among these three groups. | | Article history
Received: December 04, 2017
Accepted: January 24, 2018
Published: February 28, 2018
Volume: 9 Issue: 1
Advance access: January 2018 | | | Conflicts of interest: None
Funding: None | | | Key words:
EFL,
Non-English Major,
Errors,
Writing,
Saudi Students,
Comparisons | | INTRODUCTION Writing is a difficult skill for both native and non-native speakers alike because it requires writers to maintain a balance of multiple issues in the process of writing such as content, organization, grammar, purpose, audience, vocabulary and mechanics. In many of the English as a foreign Language (EFL) academic contexts, as other skills are rarely tested, a learner’s success in the target language is measured by his/her competency in writing in that language. According to Fageeh (2011)“many EFL students heavily rely on writing as integral skill to language leaning.” In Alsamadani’s (2010) view, writing in a second/foreign language is even more difficult as it is “a complex, challenging, and difficult process” since writers are expected to produce written samples that are syntactically accurate, semantically acceptable and culturally appropriate. Since writing is a challenging task, and English and Arabic linguistic and orthographic systems significantly differ, it is expected that Arab learners of English encounter more difficulties in learning English asa second/foreign language. They usually transfer the stylistic features of Arabic as their first language. They mainly commit errors in writing well-developed paragraphs and essays. Hu- wari, &Al-Khasawneh (2013) highlight some causes behind their weaknesses of writing like weaknesses in knowledge and understanding of grammatical items, less practice, and educational background. Ansari (2012) delves deep into the difficulties of writing faced by Saudi students and finds out the root cause of their weaknesses which is in school’s education system where students are not taught English in a proper way. By defining ‘writing’ and ‘error’ separately, this study mainly examines the writing errors committed by some non-English major undergraduate students of different proficiency levels from three colleges-Computer Science, Eng

FAQs

Which categories of writing errors are examined in the study?

The study classifies errors into four categories: grammar, lexis, semantics, and mechanics.

How do the three faculties compare in the number of errors?

Students from the College of Medicine make the minimum errors, while Engineering College students commit the highest number of errors; Computer Science is in the second position.

What research questions does the study address?

The study asks what error categories and types occur for level 1 students across the three faculties, how errors differ or are similar among faculties, and the ratio of error-category frequencies.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher