An Analysis Of Common Errors In EST Writing By Postgraduates Of Science And Engineering

Along with the process of globalization and the increasing frequency of externalexchange, there is a growing demand on the writing of scientific papers and abstracts inEnglish. However, the current situation indicates that a large number of postgraduates,specialized teachers and scientific researchers have a poor command of EST writing inour country, the papers delivered to foreign sci-tech periodicals being often rejected orneeding modifying and rewriting. Although most of the universities and colleges offerthe course of EST writing to postgraduates, students still commit errors inevitably inEST writing.Error analysis (EA), based on cognitive psychology, takes errors as a reflection ofthe progress in foreign language learning. As a branch of applied linguistics, it is nodoubt that EA plays an important role in second language teaching and learning . Notonly does it help researchers understand the extent to which the learners master theforeign language and learning strategies, but also helps teachers understand the commonproblems existing in the students'learning, which is of great significance in improvingthe teaching of teachers and the learning of students.This thesis , with Contrastive Analysis, Interlanguage and Error Analysis as itstheoretical guidance, analyzes test papers of EST writing accomplished by second-yearpostgraduates of science and engineering at Xidian University. Through theidentification and classification of errors, the common errors in EST writing bypostgraduates of science and engineering are found out, followed by a detaileddiscussion of their potential sources.The results show that interlingua l factors and intralingual factors are two of themajor sources of errors. Interlingual errors occur as a result of the learner's L1 negativetransfer, or the negative influence that the learner's L1 exerts on the acquisition of a L2.They are mainly reflected in linguistic transfer (e.g. negative transfers in lexicon, syntaxand discourse) and thought pattern transfer. Intralingual errors mainly result from faultyor partial learning of the target language, independent of the native language. They aremainly reflected in overgeneralization, ignorance of rule restrictions, and incompleteapplication of rules. Finally, based on the analysis made by the author, pedagogicalimplications and suggestions are put forward.