Error Analysis of Students’ Writing in a Bilingual Elementary School in Taiwan: A Case Study

• Main Authors: Shih-Han Fang, 方詩涵
• Other Authors: Sheng-jie Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/2xat47

碩士 === 國立臺灣科技大學 === 應用外語系 === 103 === Bilingual elementary schools in Taiwan seem to have long been regarded as the leading educational institutions in language learning and a symbol of internationalization. Despite the popularity of English immersion programs, there is little research that documents the effectiveness of bilingual education. For learners in an English immersion program, it is inevitable that their second language learning be influenced by their first language. This paper followed the mixed-method research method used to explore the issue of second language learning arising from an English immersion program. 175 pieces of English compositions written by students of grade four in a private bilingual elementary school were gathered as data, which was then analyzed and categorized systematically. The results show eight major categories of errors, namely (1) Serial VPs and run-on sentences, (2) selectional restriction and Mandarin topic comment sentences, (3) Non-pro-drop English, (4) Failure in using the ‘right word’, (5) POS mismatch, (6) Indirect vs. direct speech, (7) Function word, (8) Missing relational markers, of which (3) Non-pro-drop English is divided into two subcategories: (3.a) Lacking subject, (3.b) No knowledge of expletives and (7) Function word into three: (7.a) Don’t know how to use negation, (7.b) No passive voice, (7.c) Missing or using wrong prepositions. After counting the percentage of errors, it is seen that (7) Function word errors rank the highest, followed by (4) Failure in using the ‘right word’. After that, an open-answer questionnaire, mainly based on the difficulties students encountered during writing, was distributed to each participant in order to gain insight into their thoughts. The reasons underlying such writing errors were further discussed and some corresponding teaching implications were proposed to enhance the pedagogy of teaching English writing in bilingual schools alike.