Systematic Deviation in Subject-Verb Agreement Rules among Iraqi  EFL Students

Abdul Jabbar Almnaseer, Farah; Tarad Lafta, Hamid

	Systematic Deviation in Subject-Verb Agreement Rules among Iraqi EFL Students
Al-Mustansiriya Journal of Arts
Article 1, Volume 0, Issue 72, 2017, Pages 1-27
Authors
Farah Abdul Jabbar Almnaseer; Hamid Tarad Lafta
Abstract
The present study aims at examining EFL students' errors in five types of subject-verb agreement rules: agreement with indefinite pronouns, notional agreement, proximity agreement, agreement with collective nouns agreement and agreement with coordinated subject. The study intends to identify the student's systematic deviations through the error analysis approach. It is a case study on a population of thirty-five 4th year undergraduate students from the English department, college of Education, Wasit University. To achieve the aims of this paper, the method involved carrying out a grammar test at the recognition and production levels. The results of the study provide that the students committed errors in the five types of subject-verb agreement rules. In addition, the results revealed a high score of systematic deviations in the agreement with indefinite pronouns, notional agreement and agreement with collective nouns. The conclusions emphasized the need to develop the contexts of learning inside the classroom through using up to date and exclusive textbooks which focus on the practical as well as the theoretical aspects of study. Further, the study presented some pedagogical implications depending on the results identified
Keywords
EFL students; Error Analysis; Second Language Learning; Systematic Deviation; Subject; verb agreement

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