Counseling

1. ERROR ANALYSIS OF WRITTEN
ENGLISH OF STUDENTS:
IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNSELING
SERVICES
Oluwatoyin A. ODELEYE, PhD
Federal College of Education (Special)
Oyo, Nigeria
&
Donald A. ODELEYE, PhD
Lead City University,
Ibadan, Nigeria

2. OVERVIEW
• Problem
• Method
• Findings
• Recommendations

3. THE PROBLEM
• This study investigated and analysed the main
types of errors committed by the students of the
Federal College of Education (Sp), Oyo, Nigeria
• Since the counselor’s mission is to facilitate
overall optimal learning outcomes, the problem
investigated provides the platform for the
counselor to better appreciate and deal with the
peculiarities of individual students

4. THE METHOD
• The sample for this study is drawn from the
students of the department of Primary
Education Studies (PES), School of ECPAE,
Federal College of Education (Special).
• Out of 75 students that wrote the essay,
twenty (25) scripts were randomly selected
and used for the study.

5. THE METHOD contd
• In this study, four out of the five steps of error
analysis specified by Corder (1974) were
followed:
(1) Collection of sample errors;
(2) Identification of errors,
(3) Description of errors and
(4) Explanation of errors.

6. THE METHOD contd
• The analysis of the errors was done in terms of:
(1)the error types
(2)possible causes of the errors and
(3)frequencies of the errors
• Both qualitative approach and quantitative
approach were employed.
• The former one was used to describe the types of
the errors while the latter approach was used to
deal with the number and the frequency of
writing errors that occurred in the essays.

7. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• Do students in Federal College of Education
(Special), Oyo commit errors in written English?
• What are the types of errors often committed by
the students in Federal college of Education
(Special), Oyo?
• What solutions can be proffered for the
remediation of identified errors in the written
English of students in Federal college of
Education (Special), Oyo?

8. ANSWERING RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• Research Question 1
Errors committed by students in written English
1 Spelling Errors (SPE)
2 Tense Errors (TE)
3 Capitalization Errors (CAPE)
4 Punctuation Errors (PE)
5 Sentence Structure Errors (SSE)
6Errors of Abbreviation and Contraction (ACE)

9. ANSWERING RESEARCH QUESTIONS
contd
7 Omission Errors (OME)
8 Prepositional Errors (PRE)
9 Article Errors (AE)
10 Concord Errors (COE)
11 Wrong Collocation Errors (WC)
12 Paragraphing Errors (PA)
13 Strange Words/Expressions (SWE)

10. ANSWERING RESEARCH QUESTIONS
contd
• Research Question 2
The types of errors often committed by
students
1 Spelling
2 Grammar
3 Punctuation
4 Expression
5 Connectives

11. ANSWERING RESEARCH QUESTIONS
contd
• Research Question 3 SOLUTIONS
(1)General Studies English teacher should
expose the students to a wide variety of
experiences by which unfamiliar words and
concept can be developed.
(2) English language teachers should pay much
attention to the fundamentals of English
language.

12. ANSWERING RESEARCH QUESTIONS
contd
(3) Learners of English as a second language
should be encouraged to think in English while
they write in English pointing out the differences
that exist between the structures of the mother-
tongue and the second language.
(4) The use of English teachers should encourage
learners to write fairly short sentences pointing
out the importance of this to them.

13. ANSWERING RESEARCH QUESTIONS
contd
(5)The use of the dictionary would be of
tremendous help in improving student’ speaking
and writing skills.
(6) Students should eschew laxity and make
genuine and outstanding efforts in learning
English.

14. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• The errors found in the written essays of
students used for this study confirm the
deplorable condition of English usage in our
schools.
• In general, remediation schedule should be
included in the Use of English curriculum to
enable students catch up on the lapses of
their high school years.

15. IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNSELING
SERVICES DELIVERY
• Counselors need to be more pragmatic and
versatile in their approach to helping students
resolve language learners problems
• Community-learning approach which engages
parents and teachers in language learning should
be adopted in counseling
• There is the imperative for more collaboration
and networking between counselors and other
professionals within and outside the school

16. CONCLUSION
• English writing remains a major challenge in
English Language acquisition in Nigerian
schools.
• The problem should be addressed on all
fronts, starting from policy makers, language
teacher trainers, other stakeholders and the
community at large
• Counseling services in schools need to be
upgraded to cope with the national challenge

17. THANK YOU for listening