A study of the grammatical errors in standard eight pupils' written work in English in four city schools in Kenya

Abstract

This research project is the study of the grammatical errors in standard eight pupils’ written work in English. The specific objectives of this study were as follows: (1) To establish the types of grammatical errors in the pupil’s written work. (2) To assess the comparative frequency of the different types of errors. (3) To infer the cause(s) of the most frequent type of grammatical error. We chose a heterogeneous group of a hundred and twenty subjects from four city schools. In order to obtain the required data, the subjects wrote a composition. We marked it noting the systematic deviations, or errors, for our analysis. Various types of errors were determined. Verb group errors (past tense errors) had the highest frequency count and we also observed that the psycholinguistic strategy of overgeneralization was their main cause. We then attempted a specification of the possible pedagogic implications of these findings. In our view, this research project is significant in a number of ways. Being the first of its kind in Kenya, its findings will be of great use to practicing teachers of English in our schools. This because the findings point out the priority areas of content to focus on as well as its weightage. In the same vein, the findings will be of use to would-be writers of standard eight English textbooks and curriculum developers at K.I.E.