An Analysis in Common Grammatical Errors Among 1st Year Collegiate Level

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

English is the most widely used language through out the world and Philippines is one of the leading countries in Asia which uses it as a medium of instruction. As a matter of fact, different people from non-English speaking countries like Korea and Japan spend their time and money just to study the dialect in the country and with them is the hope of being able to fully acquire it.

Filipinos start learning the language in a younger age until they reach the tertiary stage. And up to that rank, they are expected that they have mastered the skill even at least at the basic grammar level. It is often thought by some Filipinos that when one speaks English eloquently, they are already considered to be intelligent or they are a step ahead of the others who don’t. It is also a great advantage for those aspiring 4 year degree fresh graduates who wanted to get a job easily because one knows that as part and parcel of being hired in a job, they must go through a series of interviews of which English is used. That is to say, learning English is a must for everyone.

However, the researchers have observed that there are still students who can’t express themselves with the good command in English. There are some instances that some college students, who had learned the fundamentals in English during their elementary and high school days, are still unable to use the language correctly which resulted to faulty grammar. Take for an example; some students still commit mistakes that a singular noun takes a plural verb. ( Bad: The boy sing. Good: The boy sings. ) Even if this particular topic has already been discussed by the basic education teacher, there are still existing situations like this which occur in the present days.

Learning a second language is by no means an easy task. But among all the other dialects spoken by people, it is said that English is the easiest to learn of them all. Indeed, teacher’s role is very essential in the process, which is why, this research can be a useful reference for the teachers’ of today. They themselves can develop their own method that they may use in the discussion. And, on the one hand, the researchers, being English teachers in the near future are highly concerned about the motivation, strategies and approaches they will be using in order to facilitate high performance in English and produce globally competitive individuals.

Moreover, it is very important to conduct a study based on the common grammatical errors in English perpetrated by students because it will help them to be aware of what is right and what is wrong when using the language. Being understood by others and being able to easily express one’s feelings or thoughts are the goals of communication, and if one is incapable of executing it, the purposes will