Analysis Of Errors That Influence The Performance Of English Language In Nakuru West Sub-county: A Case Study Of Form One And Two Students At Ronaka House Secondary School

Abstract

English language occupies a pivotal position in Kenya’s education system especially because it is the medium of instruction for all the subjects except Kiswahili and foreign languages. English is also the language of commerce, legal procedures and official communications in Kenya. Thus the purpose of this study was to analyse grammatical errors made by secondary school learners in English language. The objectives of the study were to identify the common grammatical errors made by students at Ronaka House School, to diagnose the frequency of the grammatical errors made and to establish the major causes of grammatical errors among form one and form two in written English language. The study was informed by Error Analysis theory as the basis for data analysis. 30 learners at Ronaka House School participated by writing Essays which were analysed. Two English teachers rated and classified the errors made while four other English trainers participated in a survey interview. The findings of the study established that most salient grammatical errors found in learners written language were subjective agreement errors, article errors, tense errors, prepositional errors and Plurality errors. The finding of the study revealed that learners at Ronaka House School make different grammatical errors in English language and most of the errors are as a result of intralingual transfer. The study further revealed that poor teaching methodology and exams based curriculum are major causes of increased grammatical errors among learners in Ronaka House Secondary School. The findings of this study will inform English teachers on the best approach in helping learners to improve on written English language. The study has also fill the gap by providing possible solution to address this problem and hence has contribute globally to the field of English training as a second language