RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Syntactic Errors in English Speaking and Writing Tasks:
PROJECT TITLE:
PROJECT PROPONENT/S:
UNIT/COLLEGE/CAMPUS:
I. Brief Description of
the Project
III. Significance of the project
to the research priorities of the
University
III. Statement of
Purpose/Objectives
Basis for Strategy Development in Teaching English as a Second Language
Christian T. Fruto
College of Graduate Studies and Teacher Education Research
In learning a second language, it is but natural for second language learners to
commit errors particularly in pronunciation, grammar and syntax. Brown (1994)
defined a “language error” as an obvious difference from the grammar of an adult
native speaker of the target language. Consequently, committing too many errors
may impede the acquisition of the target language and negatively affect the
academic performance of a second language learner.
In the senior high school, it has been observed that many students still struggle
and tend to commit numerous syntactic errors in English whether in speaking or
in writing as they accomplish their tasks in their language classes. As a result, few
students participate during class discussions that lead to poor academic
achievement.
Thus, this study attempts to identify the common syntactic errors in English
speaking and writing tasks among Grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences
(HUMSS) students at Western Bicutan National High School. By identifying and
analyzing the errors, language teachers may use this as a basis to improve their
teaching strategies to ensure effective learning and acquisition of the target
language.
The study will be vital to the following agencies:
To the Language Teachers
The research may provide teachers insights that will serve as a guide in improving
their instructional materials and learning strategies that will address the various
syntactic errors both in speaking and writing among their students.
To the Language Students
The research will familiarize students of their common syntactic errors in speaking
and writing. This is, in turn, will enable them to be consciously aware of such errors
that will lead to error correction.
To the Future Researchers
This research will be significant for future researchers of the same field because it
will serve as a basis or reference to their study. Thus, it can be a form of validation
for their future studies.
The main objective of this research is to describe the various syntactic errors in
speaking and writing among HUMSS students at Western Bicutan National High
School. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:
Research Questions:
1. What are the syntactic errors occurring in speaking?
2. What are the syntactic errors occurring in writing?
3. What are the syntactic errors occurring in both speaking and writing?
1
 4. What are the factors that contribute to these syntactic errors?

Objectives:
The objectives of the study are as follows:
1. To identify the various syntactic errors occurring in: (1) speaking; (2)
writing; and (3) both speaking and writing;
2. To recognize the factors that contribute to the occurrence of syntactic
errors, and
3. To suggest possible teaching implications based on the findings of the
study.

IV. Graphical Conceptual Framework

Syntactic Errors Syntactic Errors

in in
Speaking Writing

Effects on
Language Fluency

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework of the study. It shows that syntactic errors occur both in speaking
and writing as the target language, which is English, is used. This is in accordance to the concept of “error analysis” in
learning a second language which was developed by Stephen Corder and his colleagues in the 1960’s. He said that
most language errors are due to the learners’ wrong interpretation about the rules of a new language. Interestingly,
some syntactic errors are distinct only in speaking, in writing, and some both in speaking and writing. Consequently,
these syntactic errors can heavily influence the fluency of the target language.

The researcher will employ the Descriptive-Qualitative design in describing the

syntactic errors occurring in speaking and writing. According to Locke, Spirduso,
and Silverman (as cited in in Creswell, 1994), the purpose of qualitative research
is “to understand a particular social institution, event, role, group, or interaction”
(p. 161). Furthermore, according to Manuel and Medel (as cited in Calderon &
V. Methodology Gonzales, 2017), descriptive research involves “the description, recording,
analysis and interpretation of the present nature, composition or processes or
phenomena.” (pp 7-8).

The target respondents will be 30 Grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences

(HUMSS) students from Western Bicutan National High School (WBNHS) located
in Western Bicutan, Taguig City. The researcher will purposefully select the target
respondents based on the availability of the respondents and their English classes.

The researcher will utilize various instruments such as videotape recording for the
3-minute speaking task, document analysis for the narrative writing composition
and semi-structured interviews to determine the factors that contribute to the
occurrences of the syntactic errors.

The data that will be obtained will be analyzed using the procedure of Brown
(1980) which are: (1) error identification; (2) error classification; and (3) error
explanation.

2
References:

Online sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_analysis_(linguistics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_(linguistics)

Printed sources:
Almeida, Adelaida B., Gaerlan, Amelita A., & Manly, Norita E. Research fundamentals: from concept to output.
Cubao, Quezon City. Adriana Publishing Co., Inc.
Brown, H. Douglas. (2003). Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices. San Francisco State
University.
Creswell, John W. (1994). Research design: qualitative & quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California,
CA. Sage Publications, Inc.
Lennon, P.. 1991. Error: some problems of definition and identification in Applied Linguistics, vol. 12, num. 2,
Oxford, pp. 180-195.

Checklist: (SUBMISSION ON THURSDAY NIGHT/ NOVEMBER 30, 2017)

Portfolio
1. Proposal
2. What’s your passion?
3. References (APA)
4. Review Articles (12)/ Annotated Bibliography

You may now start gathering data