In class activities

For the Entire Class

1. Assign papers with drafts that must be revised. Because the cognitive difficulty of a task can often force students to focus intensely on content and organization in early drafts, those early drafts may not reflect a student's full mastery of grammar and style.

2. Once teachers have instituted a policy of revision, set high standards and hold students accountable for progress from draft to draft. In particular, stress the need for editing and proofing before the final paper is submitted. Some instructors give students several minutes of class time to proof their papers one final time before handing them in. To convey those high standards teachers might share with students models of good writing and include grammatical correctness as part of your grading criteria.

3. Address the most common grammatical problems during class. Consider breaking students into groups and making each group responsible for coming up with a creative way to explain one common grammar problem and how to avoid it to the rest of the class. Teachers might also cover grammatical issues quickly but consistently throughout the semester by discussing, at the beginning of each class session, the "sentence of the day." Each day, choose a sentence from students' papers that illustrates a grammatical point teachers want to convey, put it on the board, then take several minutes to discuss the sentence. Teachers might ask students to identify the error and revise it or to discuss what is effective in a particular sentence.

4. Teachers distribute to and discuss with students a sheet identifying the most common errors seen and explaining how to correct them.

For Individual Students:

5. Teachers mark errors on papers judiciously. As Bean explains, traditional procedures for marking student papers may exacerbate grammatical errors. When instructors correct all of the errors in students' papers, students are not forced find their own mistakes and learn to correct them. Teachers might identify the type of error (fragments, possessives, "too" vs. "two" vs. "to") or demonstrate the density of error in one paragraph or on one page, then require students to do the revising themselves; frequently students' errors fall into distinct patterns.

6. In individual conferences, teachers ask students to read their texts aloud while teachers listen and look at their texts. Often students will "read" grammatically correct sentences even though the sentences are grammatically incorrect on the page. In these cases, encourage students to proofread more methodically by putting their finger on each word as they read aloud.

7. Teachers have students make their own self-editing checklist. Because most students consistently make the same errors if teachers and the student are able to identify those errors, the student can proofread especially carefully for those errors.

For Particularly Challenging Students:

1. If there are a great many problems in a paper, consider meeting individually in a conference with that student. Rather than guessing why a student made certain errors and/or filling the page with red ink, teachers can ask the logic behind those decisions and help the student reformulate his or her understanding of grammatical rules.

2. Teachers might also consider adopting a portfolio system for grading that allows students to demonstrate the progress they have made over a semester and to be graded on their best work.

C. CONCLUSION.

As aforementioned, some grammar as well as solutions to those problems when the first year students at HULIS write. We do hope that those results can partially help students overcome mistakes and errors easily and learn more effectively and grippingly..

In spite of the researchers’ effort, this study still has some limitations that need to be improved in further studies. It was conducted in a small scale of questionnaire feedbacks.

Therefore, its data and information may not cover every aspect and situation of the issue.

Moreover, the participants of this study were the first year students at university of languages and international studies. Despite those, we highly appreciate any constructive comments and feedbacks from our august readers.

References.

1. Brown, K & Hood, S. (1989). Writing matters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2. Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistic, 1992.

3. Geoff Dean (2003). Grammar for improving Writing and Reading in the secondary school, Text type, Cambridge.

4. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman.

5. Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

6. Schiach (1995). Basic Grammar.

7. Stephen, M. (1986). Practice writing. Longman.

8. http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/150949.htm.

9. http://www.darwin.bio.uci.edu/~sustain/bio65/Common_Grammatical_Errors.htm 10. http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/resources/acl/e2.html

10. http://www. EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gil_Lavitov.

11. http://www.iei.uiuc.edu/structure/Structure1/tenses.html.

12. http://mendota.english.wisc.edu/~WAC/page.jsp?

id=52&c_type=category&c_id=34 13. http://www.usin...ow-well.html

Hello everyone! We are Bui Thi Duyen and Tran Thi Hong, group QH09E13, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi. This survey questionnaire is designed for “Common grammar errors in writing of first-year students”. Your assistance in completing the following questions is highly appreciated. Hopefully, you will support us.

1. How long have you been learning English? ………..

2. Of the four skills, which skill(s) are you bad at?

A. Listening C. Reading B. Speaking D. Writing 3. How often do you make errors when writing English?

A. Always C. Rarely B. Sometimes D. Never 4. What kind of errors do you usually make?

A. Grammar C. Expression

B. Spelling D. Word/ Structure choice 5. The reason(s) why you make errors:

A. Poor teaching in class B. Difficult topics

C. Differences between Vietnamese and English D. Lack of vocabulary and bad grammar

E. Other reasons:………

6. How do you feel when you make errors?

A. Disappointed

B. Ashamed because sometimes my errors look stupid

C. Not worried about errors because I learn a lot from them and I will write better next time.

D. Other feelings: ………...

7. What is your reaction when receiving your writing with comments?

A. Only look at the given marks

B. Look at the marks and the errors indicated by the teacher C. Carefully examine all errors and self-correct them

D. Carefully examine all errors, compare with other classmates’ work and correct them together

8. From your point of view, what is the most useful technique(s) of error corrections?

A. Self-correction B. Peer correction

C. Whole class correction D. Teacher corrections

E. Remedial work (giảng lại phần kiến thức nhiều người mắc lỗi).

. F. Others:………

9. Your recommendations to overcome grammar errors in writing:

………

………

………

………

………

………

………

………

………..

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! ☺ .