Sentence Structure Aberrations in English Writings of Japanese University Students [electronic resource] / John Izzo.
Japanese university English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students have problems structuring English sentences, especially complex compound sentences. This study reviewed undergraduate EFL student writings from three Japanese universities to identify common sentence structure aberrations. Four types o...
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[S.l.] :
Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
2000.
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| Summary: | Japanese university English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students have problems structuring English sentences, especially complex compound sentences. This study reviewed undergraduate EFL student writings from three Japanese universities to identify common sentence structure aberrations. Four types of sentence structure aberrations were examined: fused sentences; run-on sentences; sentence fragments; and the use of coordinating conjunctions to start simple sentences. The goal of the study was to identify specific words associated with these sentence aberrations. The review revealed that the most common mistakes for the study group involved the use of the subordinating conjunctions "and" and "but" to start simple sentences rather than to join independent clauses. The use or omission of these words in other cases resulted in run-on or fused sentences. The second most common error was sentence fragments associated with the specific "because" clauses and "for example" lists. It is concluded that Japanese university level EFL writers in general need more instruction and writing assignments that involve the use of the coordinating conjunctions "and" and "but," the subordinating conjunction "because," and the introductory phrase "for example." (Contains 15 references.) (KFT) |
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| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED442290. |
| Physical Description: | 8 p. |