Ecuadorian public high school students´ errors in EFL writing skill

Abstract

This research was carried out with the purpose of evidencing the students’ most common errors in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing in a public high school, the aspects analyzed included language content and mechanics. The present study describes, analyzes and interprets the results of the research on the mistakes made by students in their EFL classes, and explains the perspective of both students and teachers in terms of writing. This study was accomplished with a group of 120 students and 5 teachers in high school, where the teachers were required to complete a questionnaire about their experiences in teaching writing, and the students were required to complete a questionnaire about their experience in learning writing including a written sample about their favorite singer. The method used to conduct this research was non-experimental, qualitative-quantitative. It is quantitative because it helped to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or statistics. It is qualitative because it revealed a target audience’s range of behavior and the perceptions with reference to the topic dealt with in the present research. Finally, it cannot be considered experimental because the researcher relies on interpretation, observation, questionnaires or surveys to reach to conclusions. The present study revealed as the most important conclusions that the students’ most frequent mistakes are the omission of the subject, the exclusion of the topic sentence and spelling inaccuracy.