ABSYMAL
USE OF VERBS AND ADVERBIAL PHRASES IN THE WRITTEN ENGLISH OF SECONDARY SCHOOL
STUDENTS
ABSTRACT
The study “Absymal use
of verbs and adverbial phrases in the written english of secondary school
students” was carried out to determine the major areas of difficulty
experienced by the one hundred (100) level students of the Kogi State
University. One hundred (150) samples of composition written by the one hundred
(100) level students of the Kogi State University were analysed. These samples
were selected from the Departments of English Language, Biochemistry and
Business Administration. Four questions were raised and the simple percentage
formula was used to answer the four questions. The findings show the following
grammatical errors as common: omission of the –ly suffixes, wrong syntactic
usage, wrong order of adverbs, misuse of preposition of place and time, wrong
use of pronouns for adverbs e.t.c. The study suggests that Students should read
standard books in the target language after normal classroom teaching in order
to improve their writing skills. Teachers should try and use adequate and
suitable learning materials. This will help students have a better
understanding and good mastery of the language.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages
Title – – – – – – – – –
– – i
Cover Page – – – – – –
– – – – ii
Declaration – – – – – –
– – – – iii
Certification – – – – –
– – – – – iv
Dedication – – – – – –
– – – – v
Acknowledgements – – –
– – – – – – vi
Abstract – – – – – – –
– – – vii
Table of Contents – – –
– – – – – – viii
CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the
Study – – – – – – – – 1
1.2 Statement of the
Research Problem – – – – – – 4
1.3 Research Questions
– – – – – – – – 5
1.4 Aim and Objectives
– – – – – – – – 5
1.5 Justification of
the Study – – – – – – – – 6
1.6 Scope and
Delimitation – – – – – – – – 6
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF
RELATED LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction – – –
– – – – – – 8
2.1 Previous Studies –
– – – – – – – – 8
2.2 Conceptual Review –
– – – – – – – 14
2.2.1 Classification of
Adverbs – – – – – – – 16
2.2.2 Adverb Placement
– – – – – – – – 18
2.2.3 How to Recognise
Adverb – – – – – – – 21
2.2.4 How to Recognise
Misused Modifiers – – – – – – 24
2.3 Theory of Errors –
– – – – – – – – 26
2.3.1 Contrastive Analysis
– – – – – – – – 26
2.3.2 Error Analysis –
– – – – – – – – 28
2.3.3 Causes of Errors
– – – – – – – 29
2.3.4 L1 Interference –
– – – – – – – – 29
2.4 Types of Error – –
– – – – – – – 32
2.4.1
Inter-Lingual/Transfer Errors – – – – – – – 32
2.4.2 Intra-Lingual/Developmental
Errors – – – – – – 33
2.4.3
Over-generalization – – – – – – – – 33
2.4.4 Ignorance of
Rules Restriction – – – – – – – 34
2.4.5 Incomplete
Application of Rules – – – – – – 35
2.4.6 False Concept
Hypothesized – – – – – – – 35
2.5 Gross Errors – – –
– – – – – – 36
2.5.1 Delicate Errors –
– – – – – – – – 36
2.5.2 Break down Errors
– – – – – – – – 36
2.5.3 Non Break down
Errors – – – – – – – – 37
2.5.4 Critical Errors –
– – – – – – – – 37
2.5.5 Persistent Errors
– – – – – – – – – 37
2.5.6 Transient Errors
– – – – – — – – – 37
2.6 Teacher‟s Attitude
towards Correcting Students Written Errors and Mistakes – 39
2.7 Techniques for
Correcting Errors and Mistakes – – – – – 42
2.8 Theoretical
Framework – – – – – – – – 45
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction – – –
– – – – – – 46
3.1 Sources of Data
Collection – – – – – — – 46
3.2 Method of Data
Collection – – – – – – – 46
3.3 Sampling Procedure
– – – – – – – – 47
3.4 Method of Data
Analysis – – – – – – – – 47
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION
OF DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS
4.0 Introduction – – –
– – – – – 48
4.1 Discussions – – – –
– – – – – 64
4.2 Findings – – – – –
– – – – – 66
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY,
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.0 Introduction – – –
– – – – – – 69
5.1 Summary – – – – – –
– – – – 69
5.2 Conclusion – – – –
– – – – – 70
5.3 Recommendation – –
– – – – – – – 71
References – – – – – –
– – – 72
Appendix – – – – – – –
– – 75
List of Tables
Table 1.0: Adverb of
Manner – – – – – – – 49
Table 2.0: Adverb of
Time – – – – – – – 51
Table 3.0: Adverb of
Place – – – – – – – 53
Table 4.0: Adverb of
Frequency – – – – – – 55
Table 5.0: Conjunctive
Adverb – – – – – – 57
Table 6.0: Type of
Adverbs usually Misused – – – – 59
Table 7.0: Extend of
Errors Committed by the Students – – – 61
Table 8.0: Comparison
of Errors by the Students – – – – 63
CHAPTER
ONE
GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The research focuses on
absymal use of verbs and adverbial phrases in the written english of secondary
school students. Various works have been done in the area of study referred to
as Error Analysis, some of which examined the students spoken errors and
inappropriate structure of language. Attention has also been paid to wrong
choice of words with particular interest in the spoken ability. This work
however, investigates the misuse of adverbs among the undergraduate students in
their written work.
Adverbials are
morphologically and syntactically the most diverse grammatical structures in
English, (Freeman, 1999:491). They can perform a wide variety of purposes: show
time and space relationship, emphasize or de-emphasize information, indicate
frequency or manner, or link ideas together. They can occur initially, medially
and finally in sentences and before nouns, adjectives or verbs. Observing such
a variable word class gives the researcher the opportunity to observe
variability in the language development of the one hundred (100) level students
of the Kogi State University. How they choose and place adverbs in their
sentences, gives the researcher a valuable insight into their language
proficiency.
Altenburg (2010:103)
states that “if you don‟t know what else a word is, then it is probably an
adverb” by implication, adverbs are one of the most difficult word classes to
define as different grammar books examined have slightly different definitions
and focuses for adverb. Larsen-freeman (1999), Biber (1999), Azar
(2002).Freeman (1999:491). For the purpose of this study, adverbs are words or
phrases that modify adjectives, verbs, other adverbs, or whole clauses. They
show relationship such as time, place, manner or certainty. However, the scope
of this study is somewhat pre-limited to the conservative form that is, single
word adverbs that can occur only as adverbs for the purpose of expediency. For
example, adverbial clauses, multi-word adverbs and any adverb that could also
function as another part of speech are excluded.
In determining if these
students under investigation make errors in choosing and placing adverbs, it is
necessary to look at error analysis as this would help in indicating what the
students get right, what they underuse and what they overuse. Learners accuracy
should not only be measured by their grammatical accuracy but also by the way
their lexical choices align with those of the native speakers. It is
unrealistic to reckon on language learning without errors. However, it shows
that errors do occur in the second language learning and for this reason, it
should be acknowledged and dealt with.
The interest in error
analysis has been awakened by the need to correct deviant, ill formed
sentences, in the sense that they are not fully describable in terms of the
grammar of the mother tongue or target language. Since languages are dynamic
and productive, inferences drawn from linguistic researches would remain
ineffective if new vistas are not opened in the areas of Applied Linguistics.
Furthermore, the poor performance of students taking English Language
examinations has continued to impact negatively on the nation‟s educational
objectives. This is predicated on the fact that the English Language occupies a
central position in Nigeria, Banjo (1981), Bamgbose (1982), Odumuh (1985).
Error analysis means
deviation from the expected models that should be aimed at or against which
constructions can be viewed. The written and spoken English of second learners
(L2) of English Language are full of grammatical errors of different types. The
misuse of adverbs as modifiers in speech or writing is not an exception; second
language learners from different linguistic backgrounds make similar errors in
learning the target language. The possible general sources of errors include:
language transfer, transfer of learning, strategies of second language
learning, strategies of second language communication and over generalization.
It is unrealistic to
reckon on language learning without errors. However, it shows that errors do
occur in the second language learning and for this reason, it should be
acknowledged and dealt with. The second language learners (L2) are never
competent in the target language, this is on the premise that languages are
different and because of these differences, the second language learner will
encounter language difficulties. The brain seems to have difficulties in
storing the data of different languages separately, if there is a degree of
overlapping between the languages in bilingual communities (Lado, 1970:8). The
inter-language hypothesis of second language acquisition, error analysis lies
with the second language learners in the process of trying to produce the
target language. The errors made are analysed and classified to see if there is
any commonality between them. If the cause of errors can be explained, then one
can adopt this information to the second language pedagogy. For errors to be
prevented, they have to be identified, classified, explained and plan strategy
to eliminate them. Errors are bound to occur in one form or the other depending
on the varying degrees of frequency. In the analysis of Omujowa (1979:178),
errors could be classified linguistically and psycho-linguistically. The errors
classified linguistically look at the language usage, to what area does the
error belong, is it tense agreement, spelling infinitive or other misuse of
grammatical rules such as the one the work is looking at, „The Misuse of
Adverbs‟. Errors classified psycho-linguistically look at what stage the errors
occur in the process of language learning, is it the hypotheses formation
stage, hypotheses testing stage or application stage? This is because some
errors occur because the learner has not yet understood the appropriate
grammatical rules that generate the correct form.
Linguistic
classification is essential for error correction and most language teachers are
familiar with this method. For instance, some language teachers underline the
faulty language item or items (identification) and in the left or right hand
margin of the paper, put a symbol to signify the language area which the errors
belong. Symbols generally vary from one teacher to the other and it is not
important that they are uniform just as long as both the teacher and the pupils
know what the particular symbol adapted means. Psycho-linguistic classification
is essential for error explanation which in turn determines the instructional
strategy required for the error to be distinguished. The need for a
psycho-linguistic classification of error quite often escapes the attention of
the majority of the language teacher, with the result that marking becomes
unnecessarily wearisome and correction unrewarding and time wasting for both
learner and the teacher.
Corder (1977), error
analysis is the study of learner‟s inter-language in order to improve
understanding of the processes of the second language learner acquisition.
Error analysis further differentiates between errors, mistake and lapses. The
difference in these categories lies in the ability of the native speaker to
make correction. Such errors are seen as transposition, substitution or addition
of speech sound word, complete phrase or some sort of blend of these. Some
ill-formed utterance appears to be false starts of restructuring of what the
speaker wants to say, since these lapses could be as a result of stress,
indecision or fatigue. It is also presumed that the second language learner
will demonstrate similar lapses during pronunciation.
Corder also opines that
“errors are seen as a breach: if we regard a language as a set of rules for
generating syntactically, phonologically and semantically well-formed
sentence”. As one sees, native speakers do not normally commit such breaches
but however, commit errors in the use of the code. By this, we mean that they
may produce well-formed utterances which are contextually or situational
inappropriate. Error of appropriateness may however, be generally classified
into referential errors, where the speaker uses a term with intention of
referring to some features of the world to which it is conventionally
inapplicable.
Researches have shown
that studying learner‟s errors help to provide learning processes which helps
teachers, curriculum planners and developers know which area of the target
language, learners have most difficulties and provide possible solution to
alleviate the problems,(Ajayi 1998). This consequently informs the emergence of
this work.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
Although many studies
on the use of English among students have been carried out by different writers
in order to improve the students‟ proficiency in English Language, however not
all the loopholes leading to grammatical errors have been dealt with. This
therefore has motivated this research on the misuse of adverbs among the 100
Level students‟ of the Kogi State University. It was discovered that many of
the 100 Level students do not have the barest notion of how to place adverbs in
their written work. It is the poor attitude and orientation from the secondary
school that probably account for the poor placement of adverbs the students
present, judging from their essays. Over the years, scholars have focused
attention on the weaknesses in the communicative ability of the learners, such
as in the areas of poor spoken grammar, wrong choice of words, and
inappropriate structures. Hence, this study focuses on the difficulties of the
use of adverbs in the students‟ written work. This identifiable problem
prompted the work to investigate the extent and types of error made by the one
hundred (100) level students of Kogi State University.
1.3
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research therefore
seeks to answer the following questions:
i. To what extent is
the misuse of adverb rampant?
ii. What type of
adverbs do the students usually misuse?
iii. To what extent do
the adverb errors committed by the students of English Language differ from the
Biochemistry students?
iv. To what extent are
the adverb errors committed by the Business Administration students differ from
the Students of English?
1.3
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of this
research is to analyse the students‟ adverbial errors in their written work in
order to find out the extent to which they could identify and place adverbs
correctly in a piece of writing. The specific objectives of the study are to:
i. ascertain the extent
of the misuse of adverbs among the select first level students of Nigerian
University.
ii. investigate the
type of adverbs misused by these students.
iii. investigate and
document the differences in the adverb errors made by the students of the
English Language and
the Business Administration students.
iv. investigate and
document the differences in the errors made by the students of the English
Language and the Biochemistry students.
1.4
JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
The need for this
research came up when it is observed that the rate of grammatical errors being
committed by Nigerian students is growing. With the subjects in focus who would
become useful to the society in future, if these students cannot construct
grammatical sentences containing the use of correctly placed adverbs then,
there is a problem. The students need to master the rules guiding the
application of English adverbs in sentences so as to use the knowledge in their
written English. Although, other studies may have been carried out on
grammatical errors of this kind in either secondary or tertiary levels, there
is a need to be carry out the work in a tertiary institution like Kogi State
University, particularly among the one hundred (100) level students.
Nevertheless, it is
hoped that this research will help teachers in knowing how to eliminate many
errors that pertain to the use of adverbs among students and also stimulate
teachers to adapt new methods geared towards improve teaching and learning of
the target language.
1.6
SCOPE AND DELIMITATION
This research focuses
on grammatical errors as it applies to the “absymal use of verbs and adverbial
phrases in the written english of secondary school students”. Arguably,
modifiers such as „Adverb‟ exist in almost all the open class system (Nouns,
verbs, adjectives and adverbs). Nonetheless, for the purpose of this study, for
empirical and objective analysis, this work is concerned with “adverbs”, thus,
this research does not intend to investigate all kinds of grammatical errors. As
a result, this work is delimitated to examining the study of the misuse of
adverbs in the selected written essays of one hundred and fifty (150) First
Level Students of Kogi State University. The subjects for the study are limited
to students from three Departments of the University namely: Department of
English in the Faculty of Arts, Biochemistry Departments, in the Faculty of
Sciences and the Department of Business Administration in the Faculty of Social
Sciences. As a result of this delimitation, the generalisation of the result is
limited to the First Level students of the University.