Error Analysis of Online Academic Material Submitted for Continuous Assessment at Undergraduate Level

Abstract

This research study attempted to highlight English language errors committed by undergraduate students in their academic material. English is not the native or local language of citizens of Pakistan, it is taught in educational institutions as a compulsory subject. The learners of the English language often make errors in using the English language. The primary goal of this research study was to highlight the common errors committed by the undergraduate students of BS English and MA English. For this purpose, the research framework of Error Analysis, initiated by Corder (1979) was followed. This research study was limited to the public sector universities
in Pakistan. The researchers collected the assignments of students, analyzed, and counted the possible occurred errors in the assignments, and presented the results quantitatively. Moreover, the possible solutions for the errors are also given in this research article. Eight different categories of errors were found from the academic assignments of the students in which punctuation and capitalization errors were found in the highest percentage. The study revealed that the learners are not aware of the correct grammatical rules, and they use them incorrectly in their academic works. This research study is significant for the learners, instructors, and language researchers as they can better understand the weak areas of students and it also provides some 
recommendations for the learners and teachers that can help them minimize the language errors.
Keywords: academic assessments, Error Analysis, grammatical rules