Error analysis of spoken English language among Jordanian secondary school students

• Main Authors: Ahmad Taufik Hidayah, Abdullah, Bakheet Bayan, Nayif Mashoor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: L Education (General); P Philology. Linguistics
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/6969/1/FH02-FBK-20-39324.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/6969/

English language is one of the main languages in the world that is used for communicational as well as for educational purposes. Despite of the importance and pedigree of the English language, there are many EFL students in Jordan having problems in speaking the English language. In the light of the need for mastery of speaking skills, most of them fail to communicate well. They commit errors in various aspects of language including syntax, semantics, phonology, morphology and spelling. This study aims to investigate structural errors that occur in the spoken English language among Jordanian secondary school students. The data were taken from 31 respondents comprising Grade 10 and 11 students from 4 schools in Jordan, both from public and private schools. The instruments used in the research were semi-structured interviews and document analysis from the transcribed interviews. Data analysis adopted Error analysis procedures and the Surface Strategy Taxonomy. The findings of the study revealed that the students committed some errors on omission, addition, mis-formation, and mis-ordering. The results shed light on several causes of the students’ spoken errors including the teaching techniques, lack of vocabulary, lack of motivation, and lack of practice. In order to improve the speaking skill among students, some suggestions and solutions were forwarded by teachers and the ministry of education.