VOlUME 05 ISSUE 06 June 2026
Le Tien Dung
Faculty of Foreign Languages, Thu Dau Mot University
DOI : https://doi.org/10.58806/ijsshmr.2026.v5i6n39Google Scholar Download Pdf
ABSTRACT
Essay writing is one of the most challenging skills for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, and writing errors continue to affect students’ written communication. This study aimed to identify the most frequent essay writing errors committed by third-year English-major students at Thu Dau Mot University and to explore the possible sources of these errors. A descriptive error analysis design was employed, combining quantitative and qualitative procedures. Thirty essays written by third-year English-major students were collected and analyzed. The identified errors were classified into grammatical, lexical, and syntactic categories, and their frequencies and percentages were calculated. The findings revealed that grammatical errors were the most frequent category, particularly errors involving prepositions, plurality, articles, verb tenses, concord, and word order. Lexical errors mainly involved word choice and word form, whereas syntactic errors included punctuation, spelling, and capitalization. Among all error types, preposition errors occurred most frequently. The findings further suggest that the identified errors may be associated with mother-tongue interference, literal translation, insufficient grammatical knowledge, and incomplete understanding of English writing conventions. The study contributes to the understanding of EFL learners’ writing difficulties and provides pedagogical implications for improving writing instruction and writing accuracy among English-major students.
KEYWORDS:error analysis, essay writing, writing errors, English-major students, EFL learners
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Cite this Article:Dung, L. T. (2026). An Analysis of Essay Writing Errors and their Sources among Third-Year English-Major Students at Thu Dau Mot University. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE HUMANITY & MANAGEMENT RESEARCHS, 5(6), 1715-1724. https://doi.org/10.58806/ijsshmr.2026.v5i6n39