Optimizing graphic organizers to improve students’ reading comprehension

PART A- INTRODUCTION
I. The reason of selecting the topic
In the trend of globalization today, the importance of English cannot be
denied and ignored because it is widely used everywhere in the world. Along
with the development of technology, medicine, engineering and education,
English plays a very important role. Therefore, learning English becomes
even more necessary than ever. It can be said that committing errors when
learning a second or foreign language is unavoidable. This is a natural part of
learning process. In the past, people considered errors as the result of
ineffective teaching or a sign of failure. However, there has been a positive
change in the attitude towards errors recently. According to Richards (1973:
1), the learners’ errors indicate both the state of learner’s knowledge and the
way in which a second language is learned. In other words, errors now are
viewed as an important part of learning process because they can provide
useful information about language learning. Therefore, it is advisable for
teachers to conduct Error Analysis at the beginning of the course before all
the language items have been fully learnt and errors are fossilized so that the
teachers can improve their teaching skills and the instructional process.
It is the fact that English has long been a compulsory subject in any
Vietnamese high school curriculum. Trieu son I high school is also not an
exception. Students are supposed to complete the general English program.
After that, they change to study English for specific purposes such as English
for communication and English for taking exams. At the beginning of the
term, the 10th form students have to take a placement test to identify their
levels. If the students cannot pass the test, they will take part in the General
English course at Elementary level. However, since most of the students of
Trieu son I High school, their English proficiency is not very high. Every
year, it is about half of the 10th form students are classified to study in
elementary-level English course. As a teacher of English, I am aware of the
fact that these students may commit a considerable number of errors during
their learning process. Hence, I have decided to conduct an error analysis after

the first three weeks to describe and explain errors made by the elementary
level students of Trieu son I high school. This will beneficial for me to know
some types and causes of errors that my students commit in order to
determine the adequate sequence and emphasis of instruction as well as to
implement necessary remedy.

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The above reasons have inspired me to conduct my initiative with the
title " Some tips to help Students solve error identification exercises quickly,
effectively".
II. Basis of practice:
The study aims at identifying, categorizing and describing common types
of errors in writing made by students at Trieu son I high school. Furthermore,
it also covers the implications of findings for teaching.
Since the study aims to identify common types of errors in writing faced
by 10th form students at Trieu son I high school after the first term of
studying, the language items provided in the samples is limited in the units of
the text book.
Most of the students in class 10C4 and 10 C5 were chosen as the subjects
of the study. Most of them have learned English in high schools. However, for
some reasons, they accumulate very little knowledge of English.
English as an international language, is taught in most of schools;
kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools and also senior high
schools. In senior high school, students are expected to be able to perform
their own error identification exercises skill highly. Moreover, they are
expected to be able to practice like an English native speaker. English is also
taught in Trieu son 1 High school, however, I realize that there is no
motivation for students to solve error identification exercises in English

here. Based on interviewing with the teachers, many problems faced by the
students. The students are not confident to writing or doing exercises in
English,tests, the teachers used monotonous method (giving material, listen,
and giving exercises) then teacher is the main source of the teaching learning
process. The effects from these phenomenon students tend to be lazy to pay
attention to the materials, feel sleepy, make conversation each other and the
class cannot control. the English writing ability of the students is categorized
as low ability. This situation is revealed from the mark students got.
Therefore, the students cannot achieve the criteria. Following is the convey
on the quality of English of 2 classes through do error identification exercise
tests: 10C2, 10C5 at the beginning of the first term in school year 2017-2018.
Class

10C4
10C5

Number
of
students
40
38

Mark
7- 8
2
3

%
5,0
7,89

6-7
5
6

%
12,5
15,79

3-4
26
23

%
65
60,5

0-2
7
6

%
17,5
15,8
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From the problems above I conclude to increase students do sentences ability
there are two factors, internal factor and external factor that should be
improved. Internal factors come from the students. There are motivation, self

confidence, and background knowledge. While, external factors are teacher,
method, and environment. It is a totally different environment from the
secondary school environment. If they wish to be a good English speaker,
they must put a lot of efforts and find opportunities to help them solve error
idenfication exercises.
PART B- DEVELOPMENT
I. Theoretical background
1. Concept of error
In 1987, Norrish (cited in Hasyim, 2002) stated that “error is a systematic
deviation, when a learner has not learnt something and consistently gets it
wrong”.
Cunningworth (cited in Hasyim, 2002) in 1987 gave another definition of
“errors” as “systematic deviations from the norms of the language being
learned”.
In brief, it is agreeable that error is a “systematic deviation” from the rules
of the target language system.
It is also essential here to make a distinction between mistake and error. In
1985, Richards et.al (cited in Hasyim, 2002) stated that “mistake is made by a
learner when writing or speaking which is caused of lack of attention, fatigue,
carelessness, or other aspects of performance”. From these definitions, it can
be concluded that whereas errors are caused by lack of knowledge about the
target language and not recognized by the learners, mistakes are caused by
lack of attention, carelessness and self-correctable by the learners.
2. Error Analysis (EA)
Error analysis is a type of linguistic analysis that focuses on the errors
learners make.
As to Brown (cited in Hasyim, 2002), error analysis is defined as “the
process to observe, analyze, and classify the deviations of the rules of the
second language and then to reveal the systems operated by learner.”
Choon (1993) mentioned some stages which are involved in Error

Analysis: identifying errors, classifying errors, analyzing causes of errors
and remeditating for errors.
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According to her, the errors are classified according to categories or subcategories such as semantic errors (wrong word, wrong form, poor choice of
word, slang or colloquialism), and syntactic errors (tense, preposition, article,
spelling, word order, subject-verb agreement. However, she emphasized that
the system of classifying errors should be flexible and one should let the error
determine the category.
3. Transfer errors and Developmental errors
Basically, errors are classified into 2 types: transfer errors (mother tongue
inference) and developmental errors.
a. Transfer errors (mother tongue inference)
According to Corder (1971) transfer errors occur when “the learner’s L1
habits (patterns, systems or rules) interfere or prevent him/her, to some extent,
from acquiring the patterns and rules of the second language”. This is
understood as negative transfer from the first language to the target language.
Students who commit transfer errors often reply on the first language as the
strategy of communication. They merely use literal translation to overcome
their difficulties in expressing ideas.
b. Developmental errors.
This type of errors is independent of the first language. As to Richards
(1974) errors are not only caused by the interference from the mother tongue,
but also what he calls overgeneralization, false concepts hypothesized,
incomplete application of rules, cross association, and fossilization.
Overgeneralization: According to Jakobovits overgeneralization relates to
“the use of previously available strategies in new situations”.
Ignorance of rule restrictions: These errors occur when ESL learners
“ignore the limitations of the existing structures and apply these structures in

contexts where this is impossible.”
Incomplete application of rules: These errors reflect the degree of rule
acquisition and the ability correct utterances to be produced.
False concepts hypothesized: Brown (1987) pointed out that “Fossilization
referred to as a phenomenon that takes place as a learner internalizes an
incorrect form.”
II. Analyzing some common types of errors in writing made by
students at Trieu son I High School.
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All the errors in the sample mainly belong to 2 sources of errors: transfer
errors (mother tongue inference) and developmental errors.
These errors are also classified into these following categories and subcategories:
1.
Grammatical errors (verbs, prepositions, articles, singular & plural,
adjectives & adverbs, possessive case )
2.
Syntactic errors (coordination, word order , fragments)
3.
Semantic errors
4.
Spelling errors
1. Transfer Errors (Mother Tongue Inference) (table 1 in the appendix)
a. Grammatical errors
One of the typical features of Vietnamese learners at elementary level,
especially those who just start to learn English is that they only try to
memorize the individual words without caring of phrases and grammar rules.
They merely combine individual English words into a sentence with
Vietnamese grammar rules.

+ Verbs
In English, “verb” is considered as an indispensable component of a
sentence. A verb can change in various forms to indicate tense, or to show its
agreement with the subject. However, this is on the contrary in Vietnamese.
There is no difference between the form of verb in the third person singular
and the form of verb in the third person plural. When necessary, Vietnamese
grammar can express time adequately by means of placing one of several
aspect-marking particles in front of the main verb, notably “đã” (for past),
“đang” (for present), and “sẽ” (for future). Therefore, Vietnamese students
often fail to make sentence with correct verb.
E.g. My family have 6 members. (wrong sentence)
 The student who writes the above sentence violates the rule of subjectverb agreement.
1. Another common error is the way students omit auxiliary verb when
they want to make negative sentences.
E.g. Lan not like learning English. (wrong sentence)
Students tend to refer “not” as “không” in Vietnamese and they think that
“not” is enough to make negative sentences: “Lan không thích học tiếng anh.”

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2. Students also have a tendency to ignore the grammar rule “like + Ving”.
E.g. I like drink milk. (wrong sentence)
This error can be explained by the fact that in Vietnamese two verbs can
stand side by side without changing the form of the latter verb: “Tôi thích
uống sữa.”
+. Prepositions
Prepositions pose a great difficulty for an ESL learner since there are
various prepositions in English that have the same function. As a result, when
students are not sure which preposition to use in a certain sentence, they often

compare that sentence with its Vietnamese equivalence, giving a literal
translation of that Vietnamese preposition in English. However, prepositions
seldom have a one to one correspondence between English and Vietnamese. A
Vietnamese preposition may be translated by several English prepositions and
vice versa.
Wrong Sentences
Correct Sentences
3. I want to talk with him.
I want to talk to him.
4. Go into the gate.
Go through the gate.
5. John is married with Susan.
John is married to Susan.
+ Articles
Articles in English can be viewed as one of the most difficult areas for
Vietnamese learners. There are two types of English articles: indefinite article
(a/an), definite article (the). English speakers sometimes use indefinite article,
sometimes definite article and sometimes no article at all. Because there is no
exact counterpart of a, an, the in Vietnamese, Vietnamese learners of English
frequently confuse to decide which one should be used. This
uncertainty causes them to write such flawed English sentences as:
1.
She’s cook.
2.
We like going to sea on holiday.
3.
She works in restaurant.
 Correct sentences: She’s a cook.
We like going to the sea on holiday.
She works in a restaurant.

+ Singular & Plural
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While Vietnamese do not differentiate the form of plural nouns and
singular nouns, English plural nouns are always attached by suffix “-s”.
Hence, a lot of students at high school level forget to add “-s” after the
English plural nouns.
E.g. My brother and my sister is student. (wrong sentence)
 Correct sentence: My brother and my sister are students.
+ Adjectives & Adverbs
Most of the students can not make a distinction between the function of
English adjectives and English adverbs. Thus, this leads to the wrong use of
adjectives and adverbs.
Wrong Sentences
Correct Sentences
I very love my mother and my father
I love my mother and my father
very much.
My family lives very happy.
My family lives happily.
b. Syntactic errors
+. Coordination
In English, items in a series are separated by commas, and the
coordinate conjunction 'and' is used just before the last word. On the other
hand, in Vietnamese, sometimes people omit conjunction 'and' before the last
word.
E.g. There are 4 members in my family: my mother, my father, my
sister, I.
 Correct sentence: There are 4 members in my family: my mother, my

father, my sister, and I.
+. Word order
The word order in Vietnamese sentence is sometimes very different
from this in English sentences. That is the reason why when students use
translation from Vietnamese into English, it will result in some very amusing
sentences.
Wrong Sentences
Correct Sentences
My number phone is 0954321968.
My phone number is 0954321968.
My sister is a teacher good.
My sister is a good teacher.
He is handsome more than me.
He is more handsome than me.

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c. Fragments
A fragment is a sentence that is missing a subject or a verb. Students
tend to commit this error when they would like to express more complicated
ideas. They will translate word by word from Vietnamese into English as the
strategy to overcome their difficulties in expression.
Wrong Sentences
Correct Sentences
1.
I live in a family has 4 people.
I live in a family which has 4 people.
2.
My mother likes cooking for

My mother likes cooking for family
and
family and she thinks happy.
she thinks it is happy.
d. Semantic errors
“Semantic error” is the result of the overuse of literal translation which
causes the confusion and misunderstanding from the readers.
Wrong Sentences
Correct Sentences
My son is 6 age.
My son is 6.
My father name is Nam and a driver. My father’s name is Nam and he is a
driver
My father and mother work farmer.
My father and my mother are farmers.
2. Developmental Errors (table 2 the appendix)
a. Grammatical errors
+ Verbs
1.
be + infinitive for infinitive: (overgeneralization)
Wrong
Correct
Mary and Sara are want candy.
Mary and Sara want
candy.
2.

infinitive + ing for infinitive (rote learning)
Wrong
Correct

I often going for a walk with my friends.
I often go for a walk with my
friends.
infinitive + s for infinitive: (overgeneralization)
Wrong
Correct
They goes to London.
They go to London.
3.
wrong tense: (incorrect understanding of rules)
Wrong
Correct
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He’s watching TV everyday.
He watches TV everyday.
4.
be + not + infinitive for auxiliary verb + not + infinitive:
(overgeneralization)
Wrong
Correct
Nam isn’t like mending cars.
Nam doesn’t like mending cars.
1.
wrong form after auxiliary : (overgeneralization)
Wrong
Correct
Nams doesn’t likes mending cars.
Nam doesn’t like mending cars.

2.
be + infinitive for be + Ving: (incomplete application of rules)
Wrong
Correct
I am learn with them.
I am learning with them.
3.
subject-verb agreement: (overgeneralization)
Wrong
Correct
My brother and my sister is student.
My brother and my sister are students.
+. Prepositions (incomplete understanding of rules)
Wrong
Correct
I’m from toTrieu son.
I’m from Trieu son
Please ask to help if you want.
Please ask for help if you want.
He isn’t good in French.
He isn’t good at French
+. Articles (ignorance of rule restriction)
Wrong
It is an red apple.
The first sister is a accountant.

Correct
It is a red apple.
The first sister is an accountant.

+. Singular & Plural (overgeneralization)
Wrong
Correct
She teachs English in high school.
She teaches English in a high
school.
They have 2 childs.
They have 2 children.
The boy ’s 5 year old.
The boy ’s 5 years old.
+. Possessive case (incomplete understanding of rules)
Wrong
Correct
My father name is John.
My father’s name is John.
What is He address?
What is his address?
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b. Syntactic errors
Fragment (ignorance of rule restriction)
Wrong
I proud of them.
My mother a teacher.
Teacher very good.

Correct
I am proud of them
My mother is a teacher.

My teacher is very good.

c. Semantic errors (incomplete understanding of rules)
Wrong
Correct
I’m 20 old.
I’m 20 years old.
d. Spelling errors
Wrong
Correct
My mother is a docter.
My mother is a doctor.
(Overgeneralization)
3. Implication
According to the study, students at Trieu son I high school are facing
two main types of errors: transfer errors (mother tongue inference) and
developmental errors. From the findings, teachers can also determine some
suitable teaching methods to help students overcome these difficulties.
First, it would be very useful to encourage students to read more reading
texts and learn some interesting expressions and phrases rather than only
trying to memorize the individual words.
Secondly, teachers should create more group work activities in the class as
well as group work assignments at home so that students can exchange their
experience in learning and helping each other.
In addition, teachers can assign some common topics for students to write
in class and at home. These writing tasks can be assigned for group works so
that students in the same group can check errors for each other. After that,
some samples of their writings need to be transcribed and distributed to them
for correction and analysis so that they can learn from their mistakes.
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Through the assessment in class 10C4 nd 10C5with 78 students of my
charge, I achieved the following result:
Class
sizes
40

Good
(8-10)
3 = 7,5%

Above
average
(7-8)
13 = 32,5%

Average
(5-6)

Weakness
(3-4)

17= 42,5% 7 =17,5%

Poverty
(0-2)
0 = 0%

And class 10 C5:

Class
sizes
38

Good
(8-10)
05=13,16
%

Above
Average
Weakness
average
(4-6)
(3-4)
(7-8)
15= 39,47% 16=42,12% 2 = 5,26%

Poverty
(0-2)
0 = 0%

Comparing the results between the two above tables, we see that the
number of students of my charge getting average marks has increased. This
means that most of the students know how to not only correct the mistakes but
also do each kind of sentences quickly and effectively. They tried their best to
find out key words in eachsentences, classify each of them, and then scan the
the sentences to choose the correct answer. By this way, they have enough
time to finish their task in advance.
Through the process of applying these methods to improve mistakes

comprehension skills for the 10th graders at Trieu Son I high school, I have
found out that most students are interested in doing exercises periods.
Especially for weak students, less boldly than while doing exercises or doing
sentences activities. They feel more confident of doing the words,
comprehension tasks, and know how to do each kind of them under the
pressure of time.
By adapting doing exercises in the books and using these above
methods to do them, teacher help students become familiar with the mistake
tasks appearing in the state’s high school graduation exams. Furthermore, this
also helps them improve their Speaking, reading,writing,listening,doing
exercises skills and find out the best method to choose correct option for each
kind of skills.

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PART C- CONCLUSION
1. Summary of major findings
The study is intended to investigate the common errors in writing made
by students at Trieu son I high School in Thanh Hoa. In general, the study has
successfully achieved its aim. It identifies, categorizes and describes common
types of errors in writing of the students as well as covers the implications of
findings for teaching.
Data used in the study are collected through the progress test 1 of the
10th form students in Trieu son I high school.
From the data, the researcher found that most of errors can be attributed
to the first language transfer (transfer errors) and an over application of L2
(developmental errors). Then, the researcher classified errors into smaller
categories to describe and explain them in details. Finally, the implications of
findings for teaching were drawn out.

2. Limitation of the study
Although the outcomes of the study have provided a number of
valuable concerns, due to time limits, lack of resources, the conductor’s
ability and experience, it is obvious that the study has got a number of
shortcomings.
Firstly, as the number of participants in this study is a modest one, the
study is not intended to be generalized.
Secondly, the scope of the study is only limited to the knowledge
students learnt in the first term of the text book , so some other sound errors
might not appear.
Mastering error skill is very important for all English learners. From
the writing lesson students can learn about the world, culture, science,
technology, art and other aspects they are interested in. This helps them
broaden their knowledge. Furthermore, having a good error skill helps
students develop other skills, for instance, writing and speaking, also learn
more vocabulary and grammar structures.
The classification of questions and the adaptation of the doing exercises
books make students ease a lot of pressure and difficulties when doing
comprehension exercises. This, as a result, helps them find out the answers
quickly and accurately.

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I hope to receive the support from my colleagues to perfect the research.
Thank you very much!
Thanh Hoa, May, 20 th 2018
I strongly ensure this is my own work
Writer

Lê Thị Tâm

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PART D- APPENDIX
PROGRESS TEST 1
Time allowed: 45’
I. Choose the correct answer (1p)
1. Lan………. An English teacher.
A. is
B. am
C. are
D. does
2. Khoi …………….. swimming everyweek.
A.going
B. is going
C. go
D.goes
3. They ’re our …………
A. child
B. children
C. childrens
D. son
4. My family ……………. have a new car.
A. not
B. don’t
C. no
D. doesn’t
5. Do you have …………..novels?

A. a
B. an
C. __
D. the
II. Correct the mistakes (1p)
1. I have two leaves.
……………………………………………………
2. I like learn maths.
……………………………………………………
3. She’s loves her job.
…………………………………………………..
4. It’s an red umbrela.
………………………………………………….
5. What is Lan address?
…………………………………………………
III. Complete sentences with a verb from the box. (1p)
am / am not
does / does not
is / is not
do / do not
are / are not
1 How …………….you go to school?
2 Rome …………….in Spain. It ………….in Italy.
3 I and my son…………..like tea.
4 …………..She have two breads?
IV.Complete the fllowing sentences, using the correct form of the verbs in
brackets. (3p)
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5.They would be rather offended if I (not/go)…………………to see them.
6.He(go)…………..to study abroad If his family had had enough money.
7.Careful! You(knock)…………………………that jug off the table.
8.According to the weather forecast, It (snow)…………………tomorrow.
9.The boss telephoned me……………..(invite)me to a party.
10.If I were 5 years older,I(help)………………….my mother more
V. In each of the following sentences has a mistake. Find out them in four
underlined words and then correct them. . (2p)
11.There was the big tree in the garden8.The children are exciting about
their new clothes.
-………………………………………………………………………….
12.It’s sometimes embarrassed when you have to ask people for money.
-……………………………………………………………………………
13.By this time tomorrow,the announcement will have made by the president
.-…………………………………………………………………………
VI. Reading (2p)
Dolphins are mammals, not fish. They are warm blooded like man, and
give birth, to one baby, called a calf, at a time.At brith, a bottle-nose dolphin
calf is about 90-130 cms long and will grow to approximately 4 metres, living
up to 40 years.
They are highly sociable animals, living in groups, called pods, which are
fairly fluid, with dolphins from other pods interacting with each other from
time to time.Dolphins carry their young inside their womb for about 12
months. The baby is born tail first, and its mother will feed the calf for up to 2
years. However, the calf will stay with its mother for between 3 and 6 years,
during which time it will learn all about feeding techniques, social interaction
and group hunting.
1. What are dolphins ?
………………………………………………………………..
2. What is a baby dolphin called ?

………………………………………………………………..
3. What is the group of dolphins called ?
………………………………………………………………..
4. How long does a dolphin calf stay with its mother ?
………………………………………………………………..
5. What kind of blood does a Dolphin have ?
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………………………………………………………………..

PART E- REFERENCE
1. Brown, H.D. (1987). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching.
Prentice Hall
2. Choon,T.G. (1993). Error Analysis (EA) and Correction (EC) of Written
Work in the Classroom*
3. Hasyim, S. (2002). Error Analysis in the Teaching of English. Volume 4,
Number 1, June 2002: 42 – 50
4. Khodabandeh, F. (2007). Analysis of students' errors: the case of headlines.
The Asian ESP Journal. Volume 3 Issue 1.
5. Nishan, TH (n.d). Error Analysis of Present Simple and Present
Continuous Tenses in the Interlanguage of Bulgarian Learners of English.
6. Richards, J.C. (ed). (1973) Error Analysis. London: Longman.
7.Tips on Group Learning. Race, P. (2000). 500 London: Kogan Page.
8.English language Teaching Methodology by Ministry of Education and
Training, 2003
9.Teachers book, text book Grade 10 by Ministry of Education and Training,
2007.

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