An Analytical Study of Errors in the Written English of Undergraduate Engineering Students, ATBU a Case Study

Abstract

A study and analysis of errors in the written English of undergraduate engineering students of Federal University of Technology, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, a case study, is here by presented. Error types, causes of errors, effects of errors on their field of specialization and how the errors could be remedied were discussed. Data were collected from the engineering students’ written materials in English. Three sets of materials were collected: examination scripts, tests scripts and term paper scripts. Error types were classified through careful reading of the scripts and marking them. Error analyses were presented graphically and discussed. It is observed that errors occurred most in grammar, followed by expression, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary and least in connectives. Among the three test papers, analysis further revealed that less error occurred in the term paper. The general remedial measures as to how these errors could be minimized were listed. These remedial measures could be applied to all Nigerian Federal Universities since the students of each university are drawn from all over the federation

Keywords: analysis, errors, written English, undergraduate, examination scripts, test scripts, grammar, causes,  remediation