published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This paper presents an analysis of grammatical errors and the frequency with which they occur in compositions written in English by Afghan students.This analysis will account for the causes of errors such as interference of native language, lack of knowledge, carelessness, overgeneralization, and interference in English.The data used for this study were a set of 24 compositions obtained from the American Center English Courses in Kabul, Afghanistan. Compositions were written in class and topics were chosen by the instructor.The errors were classified into five major groups of concept, form, structure, vocabulary, and punctuation. The errors in concept, form, and structure were divided into sub-groups and analyzed on the basis of possible causes for errors. Since this is a limited piece of research, causes of vocabulary and punctuation errors were not analyzed.The conclusion of the analysis shows that the high percentage of 36.6 of errors is due to lack of knowledge, 36.8% is due to interference of the native language, 5.4% is due to overgeneralization, 9.1% is due to carelessness, and 10% is due to interference in English.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate foreign language anxiety and beliefs about language learning of university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in mainland China. In addition, the relationship between foreign language anxiety and students7 beliefs about language learning was studied. A total of 175 first and second year university students participated in the study. A set of questionnaires consisting of the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (Honvitz, 1987), Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Honvitz, 1983) and a background questionnaire were translated into Chinese and administered to the subjects. Several similarities and differences were observed between the Chinese subjects7 responses to the BALLI and those of American foreign language students (Honvitz, 1988), Taiwanese EFL students (Yang, 1992), Korean EFL students (Truitt, 1995), American students of French (Kern, 1995), American students of Japanese (Oh, 1996), and Turkish-speaking students of English (Kunt, 1997). The Chinese subjects in this study reported higher levels of foreign language anxiety than the subjects in previous studies. Two BALLI factors were found to be significantly correlated with foreign language anxiety: "the difficulty about language learning" (r = .544 p< .01) and "beliefs about foreign language aptitude" (r = -.255 p< .01), suggesting that Chinese EFL students who believe English is not a very difficult language and perceive themselves as having higher language aptitude in language learning tend to have lower levels of language anxiety. This study contributes to the understanding of EFL students7 beliefs about language learning, and the frustrations and difficulties they experience in foreign language classrooms.

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in English Education for the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. December 1997 / This research explore whether a theoretical justification can be made for using video in teaching English as an additional language, as it looks at ways in which video can best be used in this context. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / GR 2016