ESL Writing Errors: Responding to Students' Writing

Most Serious Errors -- usually interfere with the reader's ability to understand

• Word order in the sentence is confused
  Verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs may seem out of order. This type of error pattern often produces an uneasy feeling in the reader -- As the tutor, you might feel that you don't know what is wrong with the paper.
  

  • Ask the student if he is translating (thinking in his/her native language and trying to translate it into English).  Tell the student to write from what he knows in English and avoid direct translation.
  • Have the student tell you what he means and write it down if he is saying it more clearly.
  • Write down the correct sentence structure on scrap paper and compare it to the original: have the student look at sentences and explain the difference.

• Word Form
  This error pattern, like sentence structure problems, produces sentences that sound really strange.
  Example: "I am so scary when I seen a creep house" (I am so scared when I see a creepy house)
  

  • Use the Parts of Speech handout to call student's attention to error.
  • Test student's knowledge of correct form: can he/she say it when prompted?
  • Tell student about importance of using correct word ending: scare vs. scary vs. scaring
  • Show student how she needs to pay attention to word forms when using the dictionary

• Verb Tense

  • Test the student's knowledge of the spoken tense: can he/she say it when prompted?
  • Use the verb tense chart
  • Ask student: is this past, present or future?
  • Explain common verb patterns 

• Preposition Use
  The usage that students have trouble with is usually idiomatic (For these type of prepositions, they can't memorize some rule in a grammar book, unfortunately)
  Example: We talk on the phone. We wrote papers in that class.
  

  • Test the student's knowledge of the spoken preposition: can he/she write it when prompted?
  • Explain the preposition use, and have student write it down. Generate some other examples of this type of usage. Have student write down other examples.

Less Serious Errors-- but still irritating to a reader who is a native speaker.

• Misused Idioms
  Example: "I got marriage last year" (instead of "got married")
  

  • Test the student's knowledge of the idiom: can he/she write it when prompted?
  • Explain the idiomatic usage to the reader: "We always write "I got married.' He got married. Will you get married? We also write 'I got divorced.' Will they get a divorce?"
  • Give the student a chance to practice and ask questions about the idiom.

• Missing or Misused Articles
  Example: "I told teacher that I didn't have a homework."
  

  • Test the student by reading sample mistakes and see if student can self-correct.
  • Point out places where the student uses them correctly.
  • Use the Article handout or section in a handbook on articles to help yourself understand the distinctions.
  • Use kinesthetic references. A book (open hands) The book (point to book)
  • Use an inductive explanation: Once I mention the noun, it sometimes switches to 'the.' 'A student complained yesterday. Once I listened to the student's complaint ...'

• Missing Plural 's'
  This is one of the hardest errors for ESL students to eradicate and one of the last errors that sticks around as students acquire English.
  

  • Test the student by reading sample mistakes and see if student can self-correct.
  • Point out places where the student uses it correctly.
  • Ask the student if he means "more than one or just one."
  • Explain idiomatic usage and give several examples to illustrate. "We never write 'homeworks.' 'I have to do homework.' 'Did you bring your homework?'"

• Subject-Verb Agreement
  This kind of error happens with ESL and native speakers most often when the subject is separated from the verb by a phrase or clause. Students seem to lose sight of the subject and instead match the verb with the noun next to it.
  Example: "The mother of the children call other parents and complain."  
  

  • Test the student by reading sample mistakes and see if student can self-correct.
  • Point out places where the student uses it correctly.
  • Make sure the student knows what a subject and verb are!
  • Show the student the s-v agreement handout and explain the agreement rule. (It seems counter-intuitive... In English we take the 's' off verbs when the subject is plural: dogs go, dog goes)
  • Show an error and have the student fix it. Have the student practice finding others and fixing them.

• Misplaced Phrases/Clauses
  With these errors, the meaning is clear but awkward.
  Example: My mother always told after we cooked me to wash the bowls.
  

  • Read the sentence and see if the student can rewrite it, using correct placement. Then, ask if she can tell the difference between the two sentences.
  • Try to phrase a question that will prompt the student to clarify the phrase placement: "When did she tell you to wash the bowls?"
  • Make sure to let the student move the phrase on her paper -- don't write it or draw an arrow for the student.