A Descriptive Quantitative Analysis of Syntactic Errors in Students' English Writing Using Linguistic Category and Surface Strategy Taxonomies

Putri Alysia Dymiati; Rendhi Fatrisna Yuniar

doi:10.21462/ijefl.v11i2.1056

Putri Alysia Dymiati Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim
Rendhi Fatrisna Yuniar Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v11i2.1056

Keywords: error analysis, immersive boarding school, linguistic category taxonomy, surface strategy taxonomy, syntactic errors

Abstract

This study investigates the syntactic errors produced by eleventh-grade students at an English–Arabic immersive boarding school, Pondok Modern Arrisalah International Program, Indonesia. Grounded in Corder's (1973) Error Analysis framework, the study applies Dulay, Burt, and Krashen's (1982) Two-Tier Hybrid Taxonomy, combining the Linguistic Category Taxonomy and the Surface Strategy Taxonomy, to identify, classify, and quantify sentence-level syntactic errors. Using a quantitative descriptive design, thirty written compositions were collected from two intact classes selected through cluster random sampling and analyzed through document analysis. A total of 217 syntactic errors were identified and coded using a structured coding sheet, then analyzed descriptively (frequency and percentage) and cross-tabulated across the two taxonomic tiers. The findings show that Subject-Verb Agreement was the most frequent linguistic category (72 errors, 33.18%), followed by Determiners and Articles in Noun Phrases (40, 18.43%) and Prepositional Phrase Placement and Structural Complements (24, 11.06%). Concerning surface strategies, Misformation was predominant (112, 51.61%) followed by Omission (74, 34.10%). The cross-tabulation indicated Subject-Verb Agreement through Misformation as the most frequent occurrence (70 instances). These results suggest that intensive English-Arabic immersion does not ensure written grammatical accuracy and recommend subject-verb agreement, determiners, and form selection as areas of focus for instruction. The study provides an empirical, data-driven diagnostic framework for syntax focused writing instruction in multilingual immersive contexts.

References

Ahmad, A., Shahid, S. H., & Farhat, P. A. (2023). Comparative analysis of syntactical errors in the writings of ESL students at secondary level in Pakistan. Global Language Review, VIII(II), 203–213. https://doi.org/10.31703/glr.2023(viii-ii).18
Anggrisia, N. F., & Robah, A. (2023). Exploring challenges and strategies in English speaking among Indonesian university students: A case study of AKM university. Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.22373/ej.v11i1.19156
Anyanwu, E. A., Ifeyinwa, C., & Robert, O. S. (2024). Emerging new media syntax, violation of English syntactic rules, and meaning misrepresentations. African Journal of Humanities and Contemporary Education Research, 16(1), 189–206. https://doi.org/10.62154/ajhcer.2024.016.010441
Basori, M. A., Wiranegara, D. A., & Fatrisna Yuniar, R. (2026). Enhancing student participation in intensive EFL classrooms: The role of collaborative learning strategies. Journal of English Teaching and Learning, 5(1). http://urj.uin-malang.ac.id/index.php/jetl
Carnie, A. (2007). Syntax: A generative introduction (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons Publishing.
Chomsky, N. (1965). Syntactic structures. Department of Modern Languages and Research Laboratory of Electronics.
Corder, S. P. (1973). Introducing applied linguistics. Penguin Books.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Pearson.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Dulay, H., Burt, M., & Krashen, S. (1982). Language two. Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press.
Fajrin, Z., Manurung, K., Bochari, S., Hastini, H., & Hassan, A. J. (2025). Morpho-syntactic errors in EFL students' writing: A lesson from language education institutions. Journal of Language and Literature Studies, 5(1), 60–72. https://doi.org/10.36312/jolls.v5i1.2505
Faraj, H. A., & Saber, P. A. (2025). Analyzing syntactic errors in English paragraph writing: A case study of first-year Kurdish students. Zanco Journal of Humanity Sciences, 29(SpC), 1003–1014. https://doi.org/10.21271/zjhs.29.spc.53
Hardiany, D. R., & Budiati. (2023). Syntactical error analysis on descriptive text: A case study on senior high school students at SMK Muhammadiyah Ungaran. Philosophica: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Budaya, 6(1), 99. https://doi.org/10.35473/po.v5i2.1878
Isma, A., Ode Rasmin, L., & Samsudin. (2023). Decoding the challenges: A study of English writing errors among EFL students. Global English Insights Journal, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.61220/glens.v1i1.2023a1
Ismahani, S., Nurul Ilmi, V., Apriani, M., Khoiroh Siregar, S., Ramadhan, S., Batubara, T. A., & Zain Anwar, A. (2026). A study of syntactic errors in English sentence construction by EFL students. https://doi.org/10.31004/jptam.v10i1.35938
Keisha Jessenianta, A., Khoir, A., Amara Metriyandani, A., & Indah Mala Rohmana, W. (2025). Exploring EFL students' psychological well-being in boarding university environment. Journal of English Teaching and Learning, 4(2). http://urj.uin-malang.ac.id/index.php/jetl
Khushik, G. A. (2025). Pinglish vs. Finglish: Comparative insights into L1 influence on syntactic development in Finnish and Pakistani EFL learners (CEFR A1-B1). Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05848-y
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33(1), 159–174.
Mahara, E. F., Lubis, N. H., Ismahani, S., Raihana, A., Harahap, A., & Dalimunthe, A. F. (2024). The importance of syntax in understanding English sentence structure. INNOVATIVE: Journal of Social Science Research, 4(6), 8644–8651. https://doi.org/10.31004/innovative.v4i6.16761
Mirzayev, E. (2024). The influence of first language interference on ESL writing skills. EuroGlobal Journal of Linguistics and Language Education, 1(1), 33–39. https://doi.org/10.69760/ds5gc908
Nangle, B. M., López Parreño, J., Nangle, C. M., Oleškevi?ien?, G. V., & Gulbinskien?, D. (2024). An analysis of the most common L1 interference grammar, vocabulary and syntax errors of Lithuanian learners in written English. Sustainable Multilingualism, 24(1), 79–105. https://doi.org/10.2478/sm-2024-0004
Palaguna, A. G. (2022). Error analysis of the third grade students' writing at MAN 3 Bantul [Undergraduate thesis, UIN Sunan Kalijaga]. http://adab.uin-suka.ac.id
Pasaribu, A. N., Pasaribu, T. K., Siahaan, R. B., & Sitompul, D. S. (2024). Challenges for Indonesian EFL students in English academic writing. English Review: Journal of English Education, 12(2), 527–536. https://doi.org/10.25134/erjee.v12i2.9780
Pham, Q. N., & Pham, V. P. H. (2024). Common syntactic errors in the writing skills of the 3rd year students at Van Lang University. International Journal of TESOL & Education, 4(2), 118–144. https://doi.org/10.54855/ijte.24427
Prayuda, M. S., Juliana, J., Ambarwati, N. F., Ginting, F. Y. A., & Gultom, C. R. (2023). Students' writing error in parts of speech: A case study of EFL students. Jurnal Educatio FKIP UNMA, 9(2), 659–665. https://doi.org/10.31949/educatio.v9i2.4419
Prihandani, A. M. (2023). An analysis of students' grammatical errors in writing narrative texts. International Journal of Language and Literature, 7(2), 60–66. https://doi.org/10.23887/ijll.v7i2.29453
Radford, A. (2004). English syntax: An introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Ramzan, M., & Alahmadi, A. (2024). The effect of syntax instruction on the development of complex sentences in ESL writing. World Journal of English Language, 14(4), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v14n4p25
Seddik, M. E. (2023). Error analysis in EFL students' writing skill. Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 5(4), 163–172. https://doi.org/10.32996/jeltal
Setyana, G. P., Budianto, L., & Putera, A. A. (2022). Investigating students' speaking anxiety factor in bilingual program at junior high school students. Journal of English Teaching and Learning, 1(1). http://urj.uin-malang.ac.id/index.php/jetl
Sugiyono. (2023). Metode penelitian kuantitatif, kualitatif, dan R&D. Alfabeta.
Wulandari, S., Sari, D. L. N., & Nashiroh, A. S. (2025). Negative transfer as linguistic challenges in Islamic boarding school students' writing. Education and Linguistic Knowledge Journal (Edulink), 7(1), 47–61. https://doi.org/10.32503/edulink.v7i1.6906
Xiaoling, R., Ting, H., & Yue, L. (2024). The interference of native language on English writing syntax errors of high school students. SHS Web of Conferences, 185, 01006. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202418501006