Identification And Correction Of Systemic Errors In College Students' English Writing

Error correction is a common instructional strategy,considered essential and nonnegotiable by many,to help second or foreign language learners improve their writing effectiveness.The present study starts with the distinction between “mistake” and “error”,attempting to find out whether all corrective acts are necessary.In EFL or ESL contexts,while much research in this field is geared towards finding which type of correction strategy is effective,rarely did studies begin with the basic consideration that certain errors are actually random or accidental slips that don't require the teacher's effortful corrective action other than a simple reminding of the learners.This study aims to explore what errors made by student writers are systemic in nature due to a lack of knowledge of the target language,and the distribution of error types of systemic errors in grammar found from the data source.The study was underpinned by a mixed-method approach,involving descriptive and statistical quantitative method and follow-up interviews.The findings of the study showed that the errors in syntax are predominant,and what the students could correct with the help of the teacher was centered on morphological mistakes.To be more specific,what student writers could not correct were errors in run-ons,fragments,and the misuse of articles.In this research,student writers could self-correct the majority of random mistakes(e.g.,omission of third-person singular ending in simple present tense).It is suggested that teachers should really correct systemic errors due to the lack of knowledge of the target knowledge.For the random mistakes,teachers do not need to correct them so that they can improve instructional efficiency by focusing on what really needs to be corrected,and to involve students themselves in the correction process.