TENSE ERRORS IN ENGLISH ESSAYS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

  CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

This research work deals with tense errors in English essays of Secondary School. The research is to find out the type of tense errors committed by the students who have sat for their J.S.S.C.E examination.

1.2       Statement of Problem

It has been discovered that second language learners of English face some difficulties while learning the language. This is because most second language learners find it difficult to speak or write good English.

With the above in mind, this research work focuses on Tense Errors in English Essays of Secondary Schools Students This is to find out the tense errors the students make, the causes and possible suggestion of how to reduce the problems.

The work addresses the following questions:

1.         What are the errors students made?

2.         What are the types of errors?

3.         What are the causes of the errors?

4.         What are the possible solutions to these errors?

1.3       Aim and Objectives

The aim of this research is to study Tense Errors in English Essays of Secondary Schools Students

The specific objectives are;

1.         To identify the errors in the essays of the students.

2.         To classify the errors identified into types

3.         To find out and explain the possible causes of the errors.

4.         To provide solutions to the causes of the errors.

1.4       Significance of the Study

The falling standard of education generally could be attributed to poor comprehension of the English language lessons by students.

This is due to the fact that, English language serves as a bed rock for understanding other disciplines of learning S.S.C.E holders cannot fully communicate in the national language (English) and it is on this basis that this work focuses on the tenses in the students written essays.

1.5       Scope and Delimitation

This study is limited to the analysis of thirty scripts of S.S II Students of Maimuna Gwarzo in Kaduna South local government. The research is limited to found out tense errors made by students in the schools so as to provide the lasting solutions to aid teachers and students on how to guard against such problems.

1.6       Justification of the Study

This study is important as, it attempts to highlight the major tense errors committed by the students in their speaking and writing, and to provide the lasting solution on how to correct the errors.

1.7       Methodology

This section deals with how data is collected for the research work. The study covers the use of tense errors in English essays of secondary school students of some selected secondary schools in Kaduna South Local Government. The data for this work is the essay papers of thirty students of the schools.