Syntactic Errors in English Writing of the Undergraduate Students at Three Yemeni Universities

Abstract

ABSTRACT newlineV newlineABSTRACT newlineThis study through its three axes (Diagnosis, Variance, and Influence) aims at diagnosing the syntactic errors committed by undergraduate English language Yemeni students at three Yemeni Public Universities (Taiz University, Ibb University, and Hodeidah University) with reference to ten grammatical categories. It attempted to investigate the disparity in the students proficiency between all levels (L1, L2, L3, and L4) of the three target universities. Also, to identify the effect of gender on the students efficiency at the three universities. newlineThe study is an observational cross-sectional in nature. It followed the quantitative descriptive-comparative approach. The data were collected through a Diagnostic Test composed of sixty statements pertaining to the ten opted grammatical categories; Tenses, Modal Verbs, Passive Voice, Making Questions, Negation, Conditional Clauses, Articles, Verb Be, Verb Do, and Verb Have. The test was given to one-eighty male and female EL students (sixty students from each university) in Faculties of Arts at TU, IU, and HU enrolled in the academic year 2017/2018. Concerning the analysis stage, the researcher imported the data after he had edited, coded, and tabulated them using MS Excel 2016 into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 21.0) MS Windows. newlineThis study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one has three sections, it presents an overview on Yemen geographically, the education system at schools, and higher education before and after the Yemeni Unification in both regions (south and north). It also outlines the status of the English language in Yemen at either school level or universities. Then the English language in the three universities with their syllabi. The closing chapter includes this study elements pertaining to its statement, objectives, significance, questions, hypotheses, and scope and limitation. newlineChapter two presents a view on theoretical background and related literature. It comprises two parts. The first part starts with a de