A Study on the Understanding of Grammar among English Major Students at the

University of Tripoli, Faculty of Languages

Pilipinas America C. Arroyo and Muna Salem Ali Abdulgalil

(Lecturers)
Faculty of Languages University of Tripoli, Libya

[email protected]; [email protected]
+218928205680; +21892520202033
 ABSTRACT

Universities in the North African region, in particular, have placed teaching/learning of

English as a second language high on their agenda as they find the need for their students to be

competitive in the global career arena. This action research, intended to bring into focus

significant issues that need to be addressed in teaching English and to improve the grammar and

performance of English major students at the University of Tripoli, presents a review of the

current status of English language education, with an emphasis on the need for urgent reforms in

the teaching of English. In this study, the researcher made an attempt to identify the common

weaknesses of English major students in grammar. The researchers tapped 50 students to answer

a 20-item test questionnaire on which they would simply correct the sentence construction of the

items. Some of the striking grammatical errors identified were highlighted and discussed to

enable students to take note of the correct forms of the sentences in order to avoid the errors

when they are writing. The findings reveal that the students were weak in parallelism, use of

modifiers (adjectives and adverbs), capitalization, correct use of punctuation marks, and spelling.

English language teachers need to understand and address the learners' concerns in planning their

lessons and classroom activities and use supplementary materials, if necessary, to help learners

cope with the difficulties.

Keywords: grammar, weaknesses, reform, English as a Second Languag, Libyan students

INTRODUCTION

Grammar is a major component of any language in the world. Without grammar, we

would have only individual words or sounds, pictures and body expressions to communicate

meaning (Azar, 2007). Grammar, as defined by Crystal (2003), is comprised of rules which

control the way a communication system works. Clark et al. (2008) define grammar as the

systems of a language – phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and lexicon – necessary to

form and interpret sentences. In another definition (Thornbury, 2005), grammar is a process for

making communication clear when contextual information is lacking.

Grammar is an essential aspect to communicate effectively. Learners should study

grammar because grammar skills will help them organize words and messages and make them

meaningful. Knowing more about grammar will enable learners to build better sentences in

speaking and writing performances. A good knowledge of grammar helps learners to make

sentences clear enough to understand.

Teaching grammar is to show how language works. Accurate teaching of grammar

guides learners how to use the language correctly. Azar (2009) highlights the significance of

teaching grammar as: “One important aspect of grammar teaching is that it helps learners

discover the nature of language, i.e. that language consists of predictable patterns that make what

we say, read, hear, and write intelligibly.”

To establish precise sentences, grammar knowledge is essential. Ellis (2006) mentions

“Grammar teaching involves any instructional technique that draws learners’ attention to some
specific grammatical form in such a way that it helps them either to understand it

metalinguistically and process it in comprehension and production so that they can internalize

it.”

Language acquisition without grammar will be confusing. Learners will fail to use the

language correctly without grammar skills. People now agree that grammar is too important to be

ignored, and that without a good knowledge of grammar, learners’ language development will be

severely constrained.

At every level of learning institution, the teaching of grammar is always perceived as the

most difficult skill to teach (Brindley, 1984) and the most boring skill to learn (Al-Mekhlafi and

Nagaratnam, 2011). In fact, in some non-English speaking countries, any mention of grammar in

the classroom gives students anxiety and apprehension.

But most non-English speaking countries have recognized the importance of the English

as a second language to be able to compete and be at par with the Western neighbors. They have

instituted drastic changes in their curriculum to make the study of English mandatory in their

schooling. The African world, for instance, have witnessed a very positive and drastic change in

the use of English language both in business and education.

The Libyan government, in particular, views English as essential for development and as

a lingua franca for their workers to compete in the global knowledge economy. Libya is the

fourth largest Arab nation in the world, situated in Northern Africa. It provides free education to

its people, from ages six to 15 years and for those who aspire to pursue higher education beyond

secondary education.
 Part of its educational curriculum is the imposition of English as secondary language

(ESL), expecting their students to be able to communicate in oral and written language of

English and eventually contribute in the society and in the world. In the tertiary level alone, the

university offers English classes to improve the employability skills of the learners.

For this reason, the researcher attempted to focus on the grammatical competence of

select college students who are concentrated in the learning of English as a second language as

English majors at the University of Tripoli.

Background of the Study

Situated in its capital city, the University of Tripoli is currently the largest university in

Libya. From a mere department (Faculty of Science) of University of Libya in 1957, it became

an independent university in 1973.

As a separate academic institution, other colleges located in Tripoli such as the Faculty of

Agriculture and the College of Petroleum and Minerals which were once part of University of

Libya were enjoined in the new University of Tripoli.

Due to the student unrest in 1973, the University of Tripoli was renamed Al Fateh

University. But after the Battle of Tripoli and the downfall of the Gaddafi government in 2011,

the university was renamed back to the original name "University of Tripoli."

At present, the University of Tripoli has several colleges and departments; one of which

is the Department of English. The Department currently has about four thousand students who

are into majoring English.

Problem of the Study

 This action research aimed to answer the following questions:

1. What are the grammatical errors usually committed by English major students?

2. What are the difficulties encountered by the students in studying grammar?

3. What interventions can English instructors use to address the students' needs?

Objectives of the Study

The study was intended to:

1. Determine certain areas in grammar where students have difficulty to understand;

2. Find appropriate interventions/methods to address the students' need;

3. Focus on learning activities that can enhance competency level of the students.

Limitations of the Study

The present study is limited:

 The currently enrolled English major students from the Department of Language (SY

2018-2019)

 The use of questionnaire as the main research instrument

 Unstructured interview with select students

METHODOLOGY

This action research aimed to identify and analyze grammatical difficulties of students to

give a contribution to the study of linguistics and help teachers in identifying grammatical errors

commonly made by second language learners.

Locale and Time of the Study

This study was conducted on the Spring semester of Academic Year 2018-2019 at the

Faculty of Languages, University of Tripoli.

The Subject

The action research was centered on the third semester English major students currently

enrolled at the Department of English. These students have already completed two English

preliminary subjects.

Research Instrument

The 20-item test was designed to identify the common grammatical errors committed by

the English major students at the Department of English. The items in the test were analyzed and

checked to determine the validity and effectiveness of the instrument. The test was initially given

to a section not included in the conduct of the study to determine the reliability of the test before

it was administered to the respondents involved in the study.

A casual unstructured interview was conducted to find out the difficulty the students

encountered in studying grammar.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Table 1 - Distribution of Scores

Score # of Students Percentage (%)

20 0 0.0
18 - 19 0 0.0
16 - 17 5 10.0
14 - 15 4 8.0
12 - 13 11 22.0
10 - 11 9 18.0
8-9 4 8.0
6-7 2 4.0
4-6 8 16.0
2-3 4 8.0
0-1 3 6.0
Total 50 100

Table 1 shows the results of the 20-item questionnaire given to the fifty (50) English major

students to assess their understanding of grammar. Noticeably, 29 students or 58% of the total

population got 10 and higher scores while 21 students or 42% scored below 10.

About 11 students or 22% of the respondents got a score between 12-13, committing only

seven to eight mistakes. On the other hand, three or 6% of the students posted a score of one to

zero.

This implies that more than half of the English major students were able to identify the

grammatical errors in the sentences provided in the test and were able to correct them properly.

However, having 21 students scoring below 10 is an alarming issue because the respondents are

majoring English.
 Table 2 - Number of Students To Score Correctly and Incorrectly on Each Item

Item Number # of Students who # of Students who

answered correctly answered
incorrectly
1 15 35
2 21 29
3 30 20
4 25 25
5 29 21
6 24 26
7 32 18
8 29 21
9 19 31
10 32 18
11 21 29
12 11 39
13 15 35
14 27 23
15 18 32
16 21 29
17 24 26
18 37 13
19 16 34
20 14 36

Table 2 illustrates the number of students who answered correctly and incorrectly in each

item. As can be gleaned from the table, Item #18 got the highest number of students who got it

correctly, 37 out of the 50 students answered correctly. Item #18 "look out of the window its

snowing" contained four mistakes: first, the beginning letter of the first word in the sentence

needs to be capitalized (Look out . . .); second, a missing period to end the first sentence; third,

the letter "i" of its begins another sentence; and finally, an apostrophe between "t" and "s" to

show that it is a contraction of "It is". This is followed by both Item #7 and Item #10 which 32

students answered them correctly. Item # 7 "The flats are modern all of them have a fitted
kitchen" is an example of faulty coordination, while Item #10 "I saw a little people in the hotel"

has a problem in word choice. The next sentence to have been corrected by some 30 students is

Item #3 "Maria tried hardly to find a job, but she had no luck."

On the contrary, Item #12 "Natasha can play a piano and violin" confused some 39

students or 78% of the population. The sentence is a simple case of parallelism where an article

"a" should be placed before the noun violin. Six other sentences seemed too difficult for the

students. About 36 students or 73% of the total respondents failed to notice the error in Item #20

"He invented a new kind of wheelchair for the disabled people". They could just simply

eliminate the noun people and disabled could stand alone. In Item #1 "Martin hit the ball highly

into the air", 35 students (70%) were not able to correct the adverb highly into a simple high

alone. Same number of people (35) failed to correct Item #13 "That was very good idea of him",

which only needs an article "a" before very and replace the pronoun him to his instead. Item #19

"The sick people need to be looked after" has the same mistake as that of Item #20. Some 34

students did not spot the error in the sentence. Item #9 "most people who live around here are

foreigners" has an error in capitalization and yet 31 students did not notice that.
 Table 3 - Common Language Errors

Language Error Item Number

Capitalization #9, #15, #17
Wrong choice of word #6, #10, #11
Incorrect word form (modifiers) #1, #3
Subject-verb agreement #5
Poor sentence construction #12, #16, #18
(parallelism, run-ons)
Incorrect use of article #2, #14
(determiner)
Incorrect use/Absence of #7, #16, #18
punctuation marks
Incorrect verb tense #4
Misplaced modifier #8
Incorrect use of pronoun #13
Incorrect use of modifier #19, #20
Incorrect spelling #15

Table 3 itemizes

the grammatical errors present in the given sentences. Four common grammatical errors

appeared most among the 20 given sentences. These errors are in the use of capitalization, poor

sentence construction (including run-on sentence and parallelism), absence of necessary

punctuation marks, and wrong choice of word. Some sentences contain more than one error such

as Item #4, Item #7, Item #16, Item #17, and Item #18.
Intervention

The writing exercise enabled the instructor to be exposed to the grammatical errors in the

sentence construction of the students. The grammatical errors identified were noted and the

scripts given out to the students during the next lesson for them to be part of correcting the errors

in their own sentences. Some of the striking grammatical errors identified were highlighted and

discussed to enable students to take note of the correct forms of the sentences in order to avoid

the errors when they are writing. The findings reveal that the students were weak in parallelism,

use of modifiers (adjectives and adverbs), capitalization, correct use of punctuation marks, and

spelling.

The errors were reproduced as worksheets for students to correct, The correction went on

alongside with the discussion of why particular sentence constructions constitute errors on

modifiers, parallelism, subject-verb agreement, use of articles, use of punctuation marks,

coordination and word choice.

The students who took part in the action research disclosed that they were most of the

time confused over the grammar rules and were unable to decide which rule to apply in specific

context. They indicated that they need more writing exercises (and discussed in class) to improve

their understanding of grammar. They also opened up the problem of having a big number of

students in the classroom which is another reason why their previous English instructors could

not discuss thoroughly the lessons. There were no board work as well.

Using the constructive teaching approach, the teacher initiated writing exercises (starting

with short paragraphs), correction of errors in sentences (in paired group), and some word games
within the class. Students were likewise asked to read English newspapers and watch Hollywood

films as part of the strategy to improve their performance in grammar and language learning.

Such activities can compensate for the lack of opportunity to use the language as practice.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The data taken for the purpose of this research were from the second language learners

who answered a 20-item test questionnaire on sentence error identification. The data were

analyzed in details in order to answer the research question. The results of this research shows

that the major grammatical errors committed by the respondents are related to modifiers

(adjectives and adverbs), capitalization, and incorrect use of punctuation marks.

Based on the results of research and discussion, the conclusion can be drawn as follows:

1. There are some aspects of grammar that pose problems to the English majors. These

include the use of modifiers such as adjectives and adverbs, capitalization, parallelism, and

incorrect use of punctuation marks.

2. The students cannot easily grasp their grammar lessons because of certain factors such as

the class size, the teaching methods, and lack of opportunities to practice the language.

3. English instructors need to prepare classroom practices and activities that will help improve

the quality of language use of learners. They also need to choose more appropriate

grammar teaching methods that can improve the students' performance in grammar and

usage tests.

Recommendations

1. Teaching grammar rules without providing sufficient practice in their use will not

contribute to the learning of a second language. Rules should be taught simultaneous with

their uses.
2. English instructors should engage the learners in activities that would let them internalize

the English grammar rules so that they would be able to apply them in the construction of

sentences. It is also suggested to reduce the standard class size to provide a more conducive

learning environment and for the teachers to have more appropriate teaching conditions.

3. English language teachers should provide a reflective practice-based approach, instead of

the usual direct method and structural method. The latter approaches do not result in the

ability of the learners to apply the grammar rules in the construction of sentences.

Constructive teaching and learning activities have been found to be effective in helping

learners to discover new things for themselves. The use of constructive teaching and

learning activities in this action research has helped the learners to discover some of the

English grammar rules for themselves without being told what the rules are.

4. English language teachers need to understand and address the learners' concerns in

planning their lessons and classroom activities and use supplementary materials, if

necessary, to help learners cope with the difficulties.

 APPENDIX

TEST QUESTIONNAIRE

Directions: Each of these sentences has a mistake in it. Write the correct sentence.

1. Martin hit the ball highly into the air.

2. She bought a MP3 to record the lectures.

3. Maria tried hardly to find a job, but she had no luck.

4. I spend the whole weeks studying for the exam.

5. Both the beds is uncomfortable.

6. He plays soccer very good.

7. The flats are modern all them have a fitted kitchen.

8. These are modern wonderful wooden garden seat.

9. most people who live around here are foreigners.

10. I saw a little people in the hotel.

11. I don't know meeting of time.

12. Natasha can play a piano and violin.

13. That was very good idea of him.

14. The woman next door is college student.

15. she was a truly great actress.

16. Safety comes first people's lives shouldn't be put at risk.

17. He has two cars. either of them is in very good condition.

18. look out of the window its snowing.

19. The sick people need to be looked after.

20. He invented a new kind of wheelchair for the disabled people.

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