Error Analysis In Academic Writing Of Post Graduate Engineering Students Of Sindh

Abstract

This paper includes the investigation of various types of errors in academic writings of postgraduate students of MUET SZAB Campus Khairpur (Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Campus Khairpur). It is mandatory for the enrolling students to pass either the GAT (General Aptitude Test) or university admission test to achieve admission in the post graduate program. In this research study, 15 students from the said campus were involved to write an assignment of 2000 words on the topic of “My Previous Education and Future Career Plan”. The employed methodology in this research was mixed one. The error in the assignments were recognized and categorized according to Corder’s Model of Error Analysis. The results of the current study discovered that three most common errors in the selected population were articles, sentence structures and capitalization. This study also opens further to the assumption of the rules of English by the participants under the effect of those in their native language. Such deeper insights allow for further research in the field of error analysis in terms of the issues in the instructions from the teachers and their reception on the part of students. This research produces significant discoveries from the teaching and learning of English at engineering universities.