This document summarizes a study on common grammar errors of college freshmen. It found that students had difficulties with subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and other parts of speech. Most respondents were female, ages 16-18, and enrolled in hotel and restaurant management. English instructors were mostly female, aged 41-45 with master's degrees. Students agreed that integrating spelling drills, using English communicatively, and interactive activities would help remediate errors. The study aimed to identify errors and recommend improvements to students' grammar proficiency.

1. COMMON GRAMMAR ERRORS
OF COLLEGE FRESHMEN
A Mini Study presented to the Faculty
and Staff of La Consolacion College
Iriga City
BENEDIC V. BALUYOT
OCTOBER 2012

2. MOTIVATION
Image Analysis

4. WHY GRAMMAR?
• Grammar is the greatest joy of Language study.
• Knowing the rules of sentence and word formation
gives me both delight and strength in order for me
to communicate my thoughts well using the said
language.
• The power to communicate lies on how one can
effectively use the language in which he or she is
using.
• Grammar proficiency is a key ingredient in
effective communication.

5. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
• This study aims to assess the
grammatical errors made by
college freshmen in La Consolacion
College – Iriga S/Y 2012 – 2013.
• Specifically this study aims to
answer the following questions.

6. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM NO. 1
• What is the general profile of the students in terms
of:
• Age
• Sex
• Course
• School last attended
• Interest
• Current English subjects they are taking

7. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM NO. 2
• What is the general profile of college English
Instructors in terms of:
• Age
• Sex
• Educational attainment
• Subjects currently being taught

8. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM NO. 3
•What are the student’s
difficulties in the
English grammar?

9. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM NO. 4
• What approaches/bridging
programs maybe adapted to
remediate the grammatical
errors?

10. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
• The descriptive-survey method was
used to determine the common errors
of the college freshmen of La
Consolacion College for school year
2012-2013. The data were obtained
from the students who were classified
as freshmen.

11. RESPONDENTS
• The respondents were 64 college freshmen from :
A. Education Department
B. Information Technology Department
C. Hotel and Restaurant Management
Department
D. Tourism Department

12. RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
• The main research instrument in this study was
the questionnaire.
• It included the general profile of both the students
and instructors of English in the college
department as well as the different difficulties of
the students in the English grammar.
• The last part of the questionnaire stated the
possible suggestions or recommendations for
improvement.

13. RATING SCALE
Weighted Mean
Rate Description
4.1-5.0
STONGLY AGREE
3.1-4.0
AGREE
2.1-3.1
UNDECIDED
1.1-2.0
DISAGREE
0.1-1.0
STRONGLY DISAGREE

14. SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS (STUDENT’S
DIFFICULTIES IN THE ENGLISH GRAMMAR)
ITEMS
WEIGHTED MEAN
QUALITATIVE
DESCRIPTION
1. SV AGREEMENT
3.38
A
2. PRONOUN ANTECEDENT
AGREEMENT
3.23
A
3. WORD USAGE
3.19
A
4. PASSIVE AND ACTIVE
VOICE
3.07
A
5. SUBJECT RECOGNITION
3.04
A
6. KINDS OF CLAUSES
3.03
A
7. SENTENCE PATTERNS
2.98
U
8. TENSES OF THE VERB
2.65
U
9. PREDICATE
RECOGNITION
2.46
U
10. ARTICLES A, AN AND
THE
2.36
U

15. ITEMS
WEIGHTED MEAN
QUALITATIVE
DESCRIPTION
11. PLACEMENT OF
PUNCTUATION
2.03
U
12. PLACEMENT OF
MODIFIERS
1.80
D

16. SUGGESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
IMPROVEMENT
ITEM
WEIGHTED MEAN
QUALITATIVE
DESCRIPTION
1. USING OF GRAMMAR
ACTIVITES BY THE TEACHER
4.25
SA
2. PROVISION OF
GRAMMAR WORKBOOK
4.15
SA
3. INTEGRATION OF
SPELLING DRILLS
4.9
SA
4. CREATION OF ENGLISH
CLUB
4
A
5. REINFORCEMENT OF
THE USE OF ENGLISH AS
MEDIUM OF
COMMUNICATION
3.96
A

17. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM NO. 1
• What is the general profile of the students in terms
of:
• Age
• Sex
• Course
• School last attended
• Interest
• Current English subjects they are taking

18. FINDINGS
Age
63% of the respondents are ages 16-18.
33% of the respondents are ages 19 and above.
None of the respondents belong to the 15 under
bracket.
• Sex
• 84.61% of the respondents were females.
• 15. 38% of the respondents were males.
•
•
•
•
•
•

19. • Course
• 36. 53% of the respondents were taking Bachelor
of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management.
• 30.76% of the respondents were taking Bachelor
in Science in Tourism Management.
• 19.23% of the respondents were taking Bachelor
of Elementary Education.
• 9.61% of the respondents were taking Bachelor of
Science in Computer Science.
• 3.84% of the respondents were taking Bachelor of
Secondary Education.

20. • School Last Attended
• 19.23% of the respondents came from Nabua
National High School.
• 17.30% of the respondents came from LCC-I
• 11.53% of the respondents came from USANT
• Interests
• 36.53% of the respondents like to sing.
• 36.53% of the respondents like to dance.
• 40,38% of the respondents like to cook.

21. • English Subjects Currently Taking
• 82.68% of the respondents are taking Study and
Thinking Skills.
• 44.23% of the respondents are taking English Plus.
• 7.69% of the respondents are taking
Developmental Reading.
•

22. CONCLUSIONS
• Mont of respondents belong to the typical age
bracket for a college first year student.
• Most of the respondents are females thus covering
the number of males.
• The course that is attractive in La Consolacion is
Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant
Management due to its career opportunities.
• Due to lack of tertiary schools in Nabua, most of its
high school graduates opted to go to Iriga and
enroll in college institutions in Iriga.

23. • La Consolacion College is one of the schools in
iriga that is mostly patronized by the neighboring
towns of Iriga when it comes to treating education.
• Most of the respondents like cooking and that is
why they belong to Hotel and Restaurant
Management course.
• Almost all the respondents are following the
English subjects based on the

24. RECOMMENDATIONS
• Improve the recruitment program of the school
when it comes to tertiary education.
• Enhance more the facilities and programs of the
school.
• Open more courses to meet the demands of the
incoming first year students.
• Improve the recruitment program of the
Education. IT and Tourism department to
encourage more students to enroll.

25. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM NO. 2
• What is the general profile of college English
Instructors in terms of:
• Age
• Sex
• Educational Attainmentl
• Subjects currently being taught

26. FINDINGS
• 50% of the college instructors in English belong to
41-45 years old age bracket.
• 25% of the college instructors in English belong to
46 and above age bracket.
• 25% of the college instructors in English belong to
31-35 years old age bracket.
• 99% of the teachers in English in the college
department are females.

27. • 100% of the college instructors in English are
Masteral degree holders. 99% are English Major
and 1% major in Curriculum and Instructions.
• The English subjects are currently being handled
by one instructor only.

28. CONCLUSIONS
• The college instructors in English belong to the
typical age bracket for a college teacher.
• The English area in the college department is
dominated by female instructors.
• The college instructors in English in the college
department are qualified to teach the subject for
they have their M.A degree.
• The subjects assigned to the instructors are
general education subjects, major subjects for the
BSED students majoring in English and course
content subjects for BEED students.

29. RECOMMENDATIONS
• The school should encourage male teachers to
teach English in the college department.
• The school should encourage the English
instructors to pursue further studies (doctoral
degree).

30. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM NO. 3
What are the student’s
difficulties in the
English grammar?

31. FINDINGS
• The study’s findings showed that the respondents
agreed on having difficulties on the following
grammar points:
• A. Subject-Verb Agreement
• B. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
• C. Subject Recognition
• D. usage of passive and active voice
• E. usage of verb moods
• kinds of clauses and word usage

32. • The respondent were also uncertain whether
they had difficulties on the following:
A. predicate recognition
B. placement of punctuation
C. tenses of the verb
D. sentence patterns
E. the usage of articles a, an and the

33. CONCLUSION
• The respondents really are having difficulties in
some areas of grammar particularly in subjectverb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement,
subject recognition, usage of active and passive
voice, kinds of clauses and correct usage of a word.
• The respondents were indefinite on the predicate
recognition, placement of punctuation, usage of
verb tenses, identifying sentences patterns and
usage of articles a, an and the. There is a
probability that they were just confused on the
item.

34. • Students with diverse
backgrounds are weak in
the same skills in English
Grammar.

35. RECOMMENDATIONS
• The errors committed by the respondents must
not be considered as signs of incompetence but as
a manifestation of their transitional competence
(Datar 1999).
• A teacher should consider the needs of the
students in order for him or her to address these
through her daily instruction.
• The use of comprehensible methods and materials
can help the respondents improve their
grammatical skills

36. • The teacher should have a constant supervision
and follow-up of the students’ grammatical
performance.
• The students should also establish a positive
attitude towards grammar so that learning will go
smoothly.

37. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM NO. 4
• What approaches/bridging
programs maybe adapted to
remediate the grammatical
errors?

38. FINDINGS
• The respondents strongly agree on the integration
of spelling drills English classes at least once a
week.
• The respondents agree on the reinforcement of the
use of English as a medium of communication
daily.
• The respondents strongly agree on the provision
of grammar book to improve their grammatical
skills.

39. • The respondents agree on the creation of English
Club in the college department in order to
augment their tutorial needs.
• The respondents strongly agree on the use of
interactive grammar activities in order to boast
their interest to learn grammar.

40. CONCLUSION
• The respondents are really persistent and
enthusiastic to improve their grammatical skills.
• The respondents really want to have a work book
for them to practice and apply grammatical rules.
• The respondents want to experience different
kinds of approaches when it comes to delivery of
instructions in grammar.
• For the respondents the creation of an English
Club will help them overcome their grammatical
errors and gain more confidence whenever they
speak or write their thoughts.

41. WITH THIS, THE STUDY RECOMMENDS THE
FOLLOWING
• integration of spelling drills English classes at
least once a week.
• reinforcement of the use of English as a
medium of communication daily.
• provision of grammar book to improve their
grammatical skills.
• creation of English Club in the college
department in order to augment their tutorial
needs.
• usage of interactive grammar activities in
order to boast their interest to learn grammar.

42. CONCLUSION
• The research finds the result of
the study a priority of the
administration, faculty, students
and parents. Proficiency in
grammar should be obtained by
a student so that he or she can
express his or her thoughts well.