The Error Analysis Of Predicate Verbs In English Writings Of Senior High School Students

For the senior high school students,it is unavoidable to make errors in their English writing.And among these errors,predicate verb errors are one of the most frequent errors though predicate verbs are the essential and core components in English sentences.In recent years,studies of linguistic errors in senior high school students’ English writing have been widely carried out in China.However,those studies focusing on the predicate verbs errors are relatively rare.Therefore,this present study was conducted to investigate these issues.The present study focuses on the following three questions:(1)What are the main types of predicate verb errors in senior high school students’ English writing?(2)What are the factors which cause these errors?(3)What strategies can be adopted to avoid predicate verb errors for the English writing teaching ?The research was carried out in Puyang No.1 Senior High School for three months,which is one of the key high schools in Henan Province.The subjects were from Grade 1,including 67 students.And most of them have studied English for eight years.Based on the Error Analysis Theory,this study attempted to collect,classify and analyze errors found in high school students’ English writing samples to find out the main types and the causes of these errors.Then several strategies were adopted in practical English teaching to improve the students’ writing abilities.During the experiment,the author applied action research and adopted tests,questionnaire and interview as research methods.The author not only strengthened peer review but also emphasized teachers’ face-to-face correction,and analyzed and compared the results of the first and the second English writing test to see the effectiveness of application of error analysis.All the data were collected,analyzed and discussed.And the major findings are presented as follows:(1)Tense errors are the most frequent errors among all 9 types of errors,which are followed by the subject-verb disagreement errors and omission and redundancy errors.Students whose writing scores are above or equal to 15 tend to make more errors of tense and disagreement,while those below 15 commit more errors of omission and redundancy.(2)The causes for these errors are mainly First Language interference.However,with the improvement of students’ study,they are inclined to make more intralingual errors due to ignorance of rule restrictions or incomplete application of rules.(3)The author proposed some teaching strategies to reduce the predicate verb errors:First of all,teachers and students are advised to treat errors in a right way.Second,teachers should require students practise English writing on a regular basis.Third,teachers are supposed to stimulate students’ enthusiasm for writing.Fourth,teachers should reduce mother tongue interference.Last,teachers had better make students acquire vocabulary in context.All in all,the author and students all realize the significance of the application of Error Analysis Theory,especially in their English writing.And it does have a positive effect on reducing the errors in students’ English Writing.