ALRJournal. 2021; 5(10): 68-73 | DOI: 10.14744/alrj.2021.70707

Compound Errors in the Written EFL Production

Abdulmoneim M Mahmoud
Department Of English, College Of Arts, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

The lack of information on compound errors provided impetus for this study hence it is intended to fill this gap in the field of error analysis. A survey of analyses conducted since the 1950s till now revealed that none of them focused on compound errors where language learners commit two or more errors in one word. Data were collected from Arabic-English translations of male and female third-year university students majoring in EFL. Vocabulary errors were detected, classified and analyzed. The incorrectly produced content words were 1305 (29%). These were further classified into single errors (1020, 78%) and compound errors (285, 22%). The compound errors were vocabulary errors coupled with either spelling or grammar errors. These were analyzed with examples. Since language errors are usually committed due to the use of different communication strategies, the findings of this study represent a note of caution to the teachers and researchers who encourage the students to use such strategies. Nevertheless, compound errors reveal more about the student’s problems. Further studies with larger samples are needed to reveal more about the magnitude of compound errors and the strategies underlying their commission.

Keywords: Communication strategies, Compound errors, error analysis, content words

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