LINGUISTIC ERROR ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS’

RESEARCH PROPOSALS

A Research Proposal

Submitted to

Dr. Armando S. Katalbas

Faculty of the School of Graduate Studies

As a Requirement for the Subject

Educational Research Designs and Methods

Master of Instructional Leadership

Major in English

by

Pia Grace M. Sazon

 Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Thesis Writing is an important part of any college education

program. Before students can obtain any degree in a university,
they should have a passing grade in a thesis writing class. A
thesis is an end product that students must write after attending
several major courses accompanied with English courses.

It is clear that writing is often considered as the most

difficult skill to be mastered than other because it is very
complex. As Paul (2003) in Hapsari (2011) states that writing is
generally as the most difficult of the four skills. The difficulty
is seen in generating and organizing ideas which is completed by
the mastery of the aspects of writing such as grammar, spelling,
word choice, punctuation, and so on, so that, in learning process,
the students are not seldom for making errors or mistakes when
they use English. The learners should be able to mastered English
as requires of language skills that consist of speaking, listening,
reading and writing. In order to understand about the writing
skill, it is more meaningful and relevant to the students’ lives.
In this research, the researcher focuses on writing skill.

According to Corder in Brown (2000), learners’ errors are

significant in providing to the researcher evidence of how language
is learned or acquired and what strategies the learner in the
discovery of the language employs. By investigating the language
learning, it can be described the learners’ knowledge of the target
language at any particular moment in their learning in order to
relate this knowledge to the teaching they have been receiving.
Therefore, the study and analysis of the errors which students
make in their writing in the second language have been a productive
field for a large number of researchers.

Brant (1946) cited in Alinsunod (2014) mentioned that for the

educators to be satisfied with the written work of students, the
latter should submit works which have “good grammatical
structures, appropriate punctuation marks, verbs in their right
tenses, pronouns in the right case and correct spelling of words.”
It had been assumed that these students, having passed several
English courses would have acquired those skills and therefore
could prepare well- written thesis proposals for their thesis
writing class. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case.

The researchers’ actual experience handling the Practical

Research as part of senior high school subject showed that students
encountered the same problems. Thus, it is necessary to study
systematically the drafts of the research proposal submitted by
students in order to identify and describe the common flaws in
writing research proposals. The results can serve as basis for a
rigorous training aimed at helping the students improve their way
of writing and advance the issue of the quality of a research
paper.

Lastly, researcher will conduct this study to provide insights

about writing an excellent research paper according to the rules
of grammar. Moreover, conducting study such as this will produced
a good quality research paper that will help students especially
the Grade 12 students as the main beneficiary.
Statement of the Problem

This study will identify and analyze the common linguistic

errors found in the research proposal by the Grade 12 students of
St. Paul School Barotac Nuevo S.Y 2021-2022.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following

questions:

1. What are the linguistic errors found in the research proposals

of the students?

a. Grammatical Errors
b. Syntactical Errors
c. Mechanics/Substance Errors

2. What is the most common linguistic error among the three

categories?

3. Is there a significant difference in the errors committed by

students when they are taken as a whole and when grouped according
to their strand?

Hypothesis

1. There is no significant difference in the errors committed by

students when they are taken as a whole and when grouped according
to their strand.
Theoretical Framework of the Study

Writing is regarded as a communicative event in which the

writer intends to communicate certain information and ideas to a
particular audience. This view of writing as an act of
communication suggests an interactive, meaning making process,
which takes place between the writer and the reader via the text.

The theoretical bases for the present study are that of Text
Linguistic Theory by Beaugrande and Dressler (1981) and Functional
Grammar (Givon, 1993). According to Connor (1996), a theory of
text linguistics provides a descriptive apparatus for describing
textual cohesion, structures of texts, theme dynamics, and meta-
textual features. According to van Dijk (1985), most recent
publications treat text linguistics as an analysis of written texts
that extends beyond the sentence level and considers the
communicative constraints of the context. One of the most promising
approaches to text linguistics is the one taken by de Beaugrande
and Dressler (1981). Their analysis draws heavily on a view of
text as a communicative interaction and centers on the seven
standards of textuality.

On this premise, there are also at least three regulative

principles that control textual communication. “The efficiency of
a text is contingent upon its being useful to the participants
with a minimum of effort. Its effectiveness depends upon whether
it makes a strong impression and has a good potential for
fulfilling an aim; and its appropriateness depends upon whether
its own setting is in agreement with the seven standards of
textuality” (de Beaugrande& Dressler, 1981, p. 11).

On the other hand, Givon (1993) described Functional Grammar

as concerned with the ways in which language serves communicative
purposes. Within a functional framework, the grammar of language
is regarded as a “set of strategies that one employs in order to
produce coherent communication”. This approach to language is
sensitive to cognitive considerations such as word order and
information order when studying the functional implications of
syntactic or grammatical choice. This theory is relevant in the
present study since language conventions are one of the features
linguistic analysis.

Conceptual Framework of the Study

In this study, the researcher conceptualized that the chosen

strand of students might affect the linguistic error committed on
their research proposal. Figure one shows the relationship among
variables of the study.

Grade 12 students
Linguistic Errors on
- ABM Students Research
- HUMSS Proposals

- STEM

Figure 1. A schematic diagram showing the relationship among

variables.
Significance of the Study

The researcher embarked on this study in the hope that said

study may be in significance and useful to the following:

Students

The students would be aware of their errors so that they may

take necessary steps to correct their errors themselves to improve
their writing skills in research proposal and they will not make
the same kind of error later on.

Teachers

The findings of this study will be very beneficial to the

teachers as they will be aware of the needs and problems of their
students. This may also serve as basis for undertaking activities
or preparing writing outputs for improving the writing abilities
of students especially writing research proposals.

School

This study will help the school to find ways in addressing

the needs of their students in developing writing skills. They
could plan adequately the kind of English curriculum to be adopted
to improve the language problem of the students.

Future Researchers

This study will serve as a reference to those who will

undertake studies in parallel with the current study.
Definition of Terms

To provide the reader a clearer grasp of the contents of this

study, the following words was defined conceptually and
operationally:

Errors. They are deviations from the target norms that occur as a
result of lack of knowledge. (Corder, 1976)

This study presents the different linguistics errors

identified by Darus and Ching (2009) cited in Lasaten (2014). The
study includes three major categories, namely: grammatical errors,
syntactical errors, and mechanical errors.

Grammatical errors. These include the wrong usage of the different

parts of speech. (Yarber, M.L. and Yarber, R.E. (2010)

In this study, these are errors committed by the students

on their research proposal in terms of subject-verb agreement,
verb tense, and use of prepositions, and among others.

Syntactical Errors. Syntactical error is a confusion in part of

speech. It is any deviation from the rule system due to
insufficient competence of the target language, particularly in
syntax which involves phrase, clause and sentence. Some of the
errors are difficult to categorize unambiguously, however an error
in word meaning may be caused by ignorance of just one word, but
it effects are sometimes global: that is the entire sentence may
be affected in unpredictable ways. (Ruth Sanders, 1987)

In this study, these are errors committed by students

identified as fragments, run-ons, comma splice, misplaced
modifiers and faulty parallelism that may affect the entire
sentence.
Mechanical Errors. These are those of orthography (spelling and
capitalization) and punctuation. In many cases, mechanical errors
are the consequence of quick writing where the focus is on the
content rather than the form. Although English spelling is
difficult, it is possible with diligent use of a dictionary and/or
computer spellcheck for every writer to eradicate all or almost
all of the spelling mistakes in a piece of writing. (Darus, S., &
Ching, K. H. (2009)

In this study, these are errors committed by the students

in terms of spelling, punctuation and capitalization.

Research Proposal. It is a document written by a researcher that

provides a detailed description of the proposed study. It is like
an outline of the entire research process that gives a reader a
summary of the information discussed in a project (Kikula, I.S. &
Qorro, M. A. (2007).

In this study, it refers to the research proposals made by

the students as a requirement for them to pass their research
subject.
Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study will find out the common linguistic errors found
in the research proposal by the Grade 12 students of St. Paul
School Barotac, Nuevo S.Y 2021-2022. Specifically, it dealt on the
mechanical, grammatical and structural errors committed by the
respondents.

This study will be conducted at St. Paul School Barotac Nuevo,

School Year 2021-2022.

This study will be subjected to the officially enrolled forty-

five (45) Grade 12 students of St. Paul School Barotac Nuevo.

A random sampling design will be used to gather data on

linguistic errors in research proposals of Grade 12 students.
Fifteen (15) students will be taken on each strand namely:
Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM), Humanities and Social
Sciences( HUMSS), and Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM), a total of forty-five (45) Grade 12 students.

The procedure will be different since it is pandemic. The

researcher and the respondents will be meeting through online to
establish rapport and discuss what they are going to do in the
research study. Moreover, the researcher will collect the
manuscripts to the forty-five (45) students.

The data will be tabulated, analyzed and interpreted through

statistical tools such as frequency count and percentage and paired
sample t-Test. Error analysis will be utilized for the evaluation
of the research proposals of the respondents.
 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Language is at the center of human life. It is one of the

most important ways of expressing our love or our hatred for
people; it is vital in achieving many of our goals and our careers;
it is a source of artistic satisfaction or simple pleasure. We use
language for planning our lives and remembering our past; we
exchange ideas and experiences through language; we identify
ourselves with people who speak the same language. Knowing another
language may mean: getting a job; getting a chance to get educated;
the ability to take a fuller part in life of one’s own country or
the opportunity to emigrate to another; an expansion of one’s
literary and cultural horizons; the expression of one’s political
opinions or religious beliefs (Yule 2003).

“Language awareness refers to the development in learners of

an advanced consciousness of and sensitivity to the forms and
functions of language” (Carter 2003). Furthermore, Nunan (2001)
suggests, “Learners should be taught in ways that make clear the

relationships between linguistic form, communicative function and

semantic meaning”. In other words, students need clarity between
form and function in order to develop their language and be aware
of the necessity for both. Nunan goes on to say, “the challenge
for pedagogy is to ‘reintegrate’ formal and functional aspects of
language, and that what is needed is a pedagogy that makes explicit
to learners the systematic relationships between form, function
and meaning”. If language awareness and the relationship between
particularly form and function is clear to L2 students, their
language development should, according to us, benefit.

Importance of Writing

Writing is one of the basic skills in English language. It is

generally considered one of the most difficult skills to learn for
foreign language students. Even native speakers experience
difficulty in showing. The ESL teachers include writing skills in
the syllabus because this is an essential element for students’
academic success because writing helps good command of writing
(Kellogg, 2008).

The productive writing skill is considered a cognitive

challenge, because it helps to assess language competency,
recalling capability, and thinking ability. It demands to recall
information from long-term memory (Kellogg, Olive, 2001).
Moreover, the ability of productive writing requires sound ability
of thinking on comprehensible matter. When young people say, “Why
must people learn how to write? We are tempted to wonder why they
don’t ask writing is in many ways, a life-long process superior to
the processes mentioned. In community life, one who is known for
his writing ability easily finds his place among his peers, in
civic organizations, or in church groups in community life, there
is always something that needs to be written, a newsletter, a
committee report, a letter of sympathy.

Carney (1990) found that 95% high school English teachers

opine writing as an important but only 19% assign it as an
unimportant task because the process of assessment. At college and
university level, marking of students writing is both laborious
and too little rewarded and appreciated by the administration.

If you wish to interest others with what you write, you must
be interested in it yourself. Language, in a sense, is a statement
of experience. It is a reproduction in words or an experience that
struck you by a uniqueness and a force all its own. Learn to
observe life that almost every experience becomes unique. Look at
things with an observing, wondering eye as though you were seeing
life for the very first time. Then, more and more than this, read
and read much.

In conclusion, writing is a sign of the well-educated,

thoughtful person. Such a person is that one who has ideas, who
can put those ideas into some kind of order, and who is able to
share them with others.

Errors and Error Analysis

Human learning is basically a process which involves making

mistakes. Language learning, like any other human learning, also
has the similar process of making mistakes. When a learner studies
a language, he or she cannot avoid making mistakes, undoubtedly,
he or she produces mistakes in acquiring a language, either first
or second language (Brown, 1993). Corder also stated, “Errors are
systematic consistent deviances characteristic of the learner’s
linguistic system at a given stage of learning”. Based on the
definition, it can be concluded that errors deal with the learner’s
competence, how much he masters the language.
 According to (Corder, 1974), errors are typically produced by
people who do not yet fully command some institutionalized language
system. Longman dictionary of Linguistic (1985: 96) defines errors
analysis as “the study and analysis errors made by the second and
foreign language”. Ellis (1985; 296) defines it as “working
procedure used by researchers and language teacher to collect,
identify, explain, classify, and evaluate errors”. According to
Dulay and Burt (in Brown, 1994: 205), error is considered as
“goofs”. An error is a deviation from the adult grammar of a native
speaker which reflects the learner’s inter language competence. It
is called competence error when learners make errors because they
lack knowledge of the rules of the target language. They will not
be able to correct the errors by themselves quickly. They need
guidance to correct the errors. They may also make the same errors
at the times. In conclusion, they define errors are the flawed
side of learner speech or writing. It means that learners cannot
learn language without systematically committing errors first.

As Erdogan (2005:263) emphasizes that error analysis deals

with the learners’ performance in terms of the cognitive processes
they make use of recognizing or coding the input they receive from
the target language. Therefore, a primary focus of error analysis
is on the evidence that learners’ error provide with an
understanding of the underlying process of second language
acquisition. Based on the theorist, the writer concludes that
errors analysis are people who do not master second language. The
errors can be found in people’s speech or writing. They will not
be able to correct the errors by themselves quickly. They need
guidance to correct the errors. They may also make the same errors
at the times.
Error Analysis Procedures

Error analysis is usually operated on the production data of

language learners (compositions, speeches, etc.), and any EA
activity entails the following procedures (Ellis, 1985).

1. Defining a corpus of language

2. Identifying errors in the corpus

3. Classifying the errors

4. Explaining the errors

Defining a corpus of language: The first step in EA involves

collecting and defining a set of utterances produced by L2
learners.

Error identification: Ellis (1997) claims that comparing the

sentences learners produce with what the normal or ‘correct’
sentences in the target language, which correspond with them enable
us to identify errors. This process involves “…a comparison between
what the learner has produced and what a native speaker counterpart
would produce in the same context” (Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2005,
p.58). Errors are those sentences which are ill-formed
grammatically or well-formed grammatically but inappropriate for
a particular context. This is to say that superficial well
formedness only does not make a sentence error-free; it also needs

to be appropriate in the communication context. After identifying

the erroneous utterance, it will be possible to compare the
reconstruction with the original erroneous utterance and then we
can describe the differences in terms of the grammar of the target
language.
Describing Errors: The description procedure involves specifying
how the forms produced by the learner differ from those produced
by the learner’s native speaker counterparts in the same context.
The most useful and commonly used taxonomies for error descriptions
are linguistic taxonomy, surface structure taxonomy, communicative
effect taxonomy, and comparative analysis taxonomy. The following
discussion of error description taxonomies is based on the
presentation given in (Dulay et al., 1982: 150-163).

i) Linguistic taxonomy

This classification of learner errors is on the basis of the

linguistic component or item (phonology/orthography, grammar,
semantics, lexicon, and discourse) that is affected by an error.
This taxonomy improves teaching since it uses well-established
grammatical categories which are utilized to organize language
lessons in textbooks and workbooks.

ii) Surface structure taxonomy

This taxonomy works on mechanisms in which surface forms are

modified or altered in erroneous utterances. There are four main
ways in which learners alter target forms.

A) Addition errors: such errors refer to the presence of an element

or a form which must not appear in a well-formed utterance.

Addition errors are sub-categorized into: regularization i.e

applying rules used to produce the regular ones to those exceptions
to the rules; double-marking, a kind of addition error in which
one feature is marked at two levels; simple additions are those
which are neither regularizations nor double-markings.
B) Omission errors: the absence of an item that must appear in a
well- formed utterance.

C) Misordering errors: caused by incorrect placement of a morpheme

or group of morphemes in a given utterance.

D) Misformation errors: refer to the use of a wrong form of a

morpheme or a structure in an utterance. Three types of
misinformation errors are commonly found in learners’ errors.

i) Regularization: a regular marker is used for an irregular

one.

ii) Archi-forms: the selection of one member of a class of

forms to represent others in the class.

iii) Alternative forms: free alternation of various members of

a class with each other.

The surface structure taxonomy discussed above has a

pedagogic advantage, especially by helping teachers to show
learners how their productions deviate from target language norms.
In this study to analyze the learners’ errors with optimum
description I employed a combination of the two error describing
models (linguistic & surface structure). The communicative effect
taxonomy will be employed only to determine the ‘gravity’ of the
learners’ errors. Based on their gravity, errors can be either

‘local’ (errors that affect only a single constitute in the

sentence and do not deter communication) or ‘global’
(significantly hinder communication since they violate the overall
structure of a sentence).

Explaining errors: Muriel (2006) emphasized the idea that

accounting for why an error was made is the most important step in
any attempt to understand the process of second language
acquisition and to improve the way a second language is learned
(pedagogical purpose). Generally, researchers of second language
learning have identified two sources of errors: interlingual and
intralingual factors. Interlingual transfer is seen as a process
in which learners use their knowledge of the first language in
learning a second language, whereas intralingual errors—unlike to
interlingual errors—have to do with faulty rule learning of the
target language. Richards (1974:174) says “… intralingual errors
are those which reflect the general characteristics of rule
learning, such as faulty generalization, incomplete application of
rules, and failure to learn conditions under which rules apply”.
Researches proved that most learners’ errors, contrary to what
behaviorists believed, were intralingual, Dulay and Burt (quoted
in Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2005).

The Importance of Error Analysis

Many researchers in the field of EA have stressed the

importance of second language learners' errors. As Corder (1967),
in his article “The significance of learners' errors, remarks that:
They are significant in three different ways. Firstly, to the
teacher, in that they tell him, if he undertakes a systematic
analysis, how far towards the goal the learner has progressed and,
consequently, what remains for him to learn. Secondly, they provide
to the researcher evidence of how a language is acquired, what
strategies the learner is employing in his learning of a language.
Thirdly, they are indisputable to the learner himself because we
can regard the making of errors as a device the learner uses in
order to learn (p. 161).
 As Corder (1967) points out, EA has two objects: theoretical
and applied. The theoretical object is to understand what and how
a learner learns when he studies an L2. The applied one is to
enable the learner to learn more efficiently by using the grasp of
his dialect for pedagogical purposes. At the same time, he says
that the investigation of errors can serve two aims: diagnostic(to
in-point the problem) and prognostic (to make plans to solve a
problem). It is diagnostic because it can tell us the learner's
understanding of a language at any given point during the process
of learning. It is also prognostic because it can inform the
teacher to adjust learning materials to meet the linguistic needs
of learners.

Corder (1974) notes that Error Analysis is useful in second

language learning because it reveals the problem areas to teachers,
syllabus designers and textbook writers. Errors can tell the
teacher how far towards the goal the learner has progressed and
consequently, what remains for him or her to learn. In consensus,
Richards and Schmidt (2002) point out that EA may be conducted in
order to 1) identify strategies which learners use in language
learning; 2) try to identify the causes of learner errors; 3)
obtain information on common difficulties in language learning as
an aid to teaching or in the preparation of teaching materials.

Writing a Research Paper

A research paper is the culmination and final product of an

involved process of research, critical thinking, source
evaluation, organization, and composition. It is, perhaps, helpful
to think of the research paper as a living thing, which grows and
changes as the student explores, interprets, and evaluates sources
related to a specific topic. Primary and secondary sources are the
heart of a research paper, and provide its nourishment; without
the support of and interaction with these sources, the research
paper would morph into a different genre of writing (e.g., an
encyclopedic article). The research paper serves not only to
further the field in which it is written, but also to provide the
student with an exceptional opportunity to increase her knowledge
in that field.

Writing a research paper is a very important part of students’

university study. During their stay at a university, students are
expected to write a research paper successfully. Not only research
papers but also required to carry out various written activities,
such as field and/or lab reports, senior essays or final year
projects. When these students do their expected written
productions, they face a variety of problems. One of such problems
is committing linguistic errors which adversely affect the
structure of their sentences and the idea they want to communicate.
Learners’ errors of course give insight to the teacher about the
learners’ difficulty in their learning and therefore they are
considered indispensable in learning teaching process. This fact
is also be evidenced by Brown (2007). He stated that making
mistakes [errors in writing] is a natural process of learning and
must be considered as part of cognition.

Thus, learners’ errors must be studied systematically and

appropriately analyzed in order to give effective remedial. To
enable students avoid these errors and construct grammatically
well-formed and meaningful sentences, our responsibility is to
systematically study such errors and bring to the attention of
material developers and curriculum designers as Lightbown and
Spada (2006) have indicated.
Related Studies on Error Analysis

Certain language researchers (Kikula and Qorro, 2007;

Manchisi, Ndhlovu, and Mwanza, 2015; Purnawan and Lasaten, 2014;
and Darus and Ching, 2009) and among others have been interested
to conduct studies analyzing the common mistakes in writing either
a research proposal or an academic writing.

Kikula and Qorro’s (2007) research objective was to identify

the common mistakes and problems in research proposal writing. The
data consisted of 240 proposals. Their results revealed that the
top three most problematic issues were: writing the research
problem, articulating the importance of the research problem, and
proposing an appropriate methodology.

Similarly, Manchishi, Ndhlovu, and Mwanza’s (2015) study

focused on establishing the common mistakes committed by
postgraduate students. A total of 100 respondents participated in
face to face interviews and focus group discussions. The findings
of their study indicated that, first, the respondents presented
broad and unclear topics, failed to state the problem and identify
the gap in the literature, employed wrong methodology, wrong
referencing style, and lastly, committed plagiarism. Second, when
respondents were asked about the different challenges they faced,
their responses centered on the unavailability of lecturers for
consultation, negative comments from supervisors, limited time to
write the proposals, and lack of materials. In the same way, the
Linguistics, Literature and Advertising Arts majors were asked to
validate the results of the study concentrating on the most
problematic linguistic errors.

Another research that identified the common flaws in

students’ research proposals was done by Purnawan (n.y.). Her study
analyzed 30 proposals. It revealed the following flaws: lack of
vocabulary mastery, grammatical mistakes, citation and
methodological flaws. The second group of studies investigated the
most common linguistic errors of students in their writing classes.

Lasaten (2014), Darus and Ching (2009), and Tizon (n.y.)

examined students’ errors. In the study of Lasaten (2014), he
analyzed the common linguistic errors in the English writings of
teacher education students. The most common errors were on verb
tenses, sentence structure, punctuations, word choice, spelling,
prepositions, and articles.

Likewise, Darus and Ching (2009) determined the most common

errors in essays written by Chinese students. Results revealed
that mechanics, tenses, preposition, and subject-verb agreement
were the most common errors of the students. For Tizon (n.y.), she
analysed the local and global errors of 236 students from the
different colleges of La Salle University. In her study, local
errors are minor mistakes which do not cause problems in
comprehension. In contrast, global errors are major mistakes which
make a sentence difficult to understand. The findings revealed
that the School of Hospitality Management got the highest number
of local and global errors. Thus, she suggested that students in
the said school should actively attend remedial activities to
reinforce their writing ability.

Furthermore, a previous study made by Nur Elah Amaliah (2012).

The objective of her research was to analyze the students‟ error
in writing recount text and to know the highest frequency of the
students‟ types of error made by Second Grade of SMP Al-Kholidin.
The Errors Classification in her research covers error in Article,
Capitalization, Omission, Punctuation, Spelling, Tenses, Word
Choice, and Word Order. The result of the research was 5.4% errors
in Article, 0.5% errors in Capitalization, 11.4% errors in
Omission, 1.6% errors in Punctuation, 5.4% errors in Spelling,
55.4% errors in Tenses, 4.4% errors in Word Choice, 15.2% errors
in Word Order. It can be concluded that the highest error made by
students was in Tenses area and the lowest was error in Article.

Lastly, a study made by Nur Elah Amaliah (2012). The objective

of her research was to analyze the students‟ error in writing
recount text and to know the highest frequency of the students‟
types of error made by Second Grade of SMP Al-Kholidin. The Errors
Classification in her research covers error in Article,
Capitalization, Omission, Punctuation, Spelling, Tenses, Word
Choice, and Word Order. The result of the research was 5.4% errors
in Article, 0.5% errors in Capitalization, 11.4% errors in
Omission, 1.6% errors in Punctuation, 5.4% errors in Spelling,
55.4% errors in Tenses, 4.4% errors in Word Choice, 15.2% errors
in Word Order. It can be concluded that the highest error made by
students was in Tenses area and the lowest was error in Article.
The last is Auda Layyinatul Istibsyaroh (2014). She analyze the
most frequent errors that made by the second grade students of SMP
Dharma Karya UT Pamulung in recount text writing. The modification
in her study is divided into four categories they are omission,
addition, selection, and misordering. She used descriptive method
in her study. The finding showed that are 182 errors made by the
students. The most frequent error made by students in their writing
recount text was selection which consists of 114 errors or 28
62.64%. Then are omission that consists of 47 errors or 25.82%.
Next is consists of 20 errors or 10.99 %. And the last, misordering
error consists of 1 error or 0.55%.

The differences between the researcher and the other

researchers above are theories and ways of how research was being
conducted. In this research, the researcher will investigate the
common linguistic errors on students research proposals identified
by Darus and Ching (2009) cited in Lasaten (2014). The study
includes three major categories, namely: grammatical errors,
syntactical errors, and mechanical errors.
 Chapter III

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the purpose of the study and research

design, locale of the study, sampling techniques, respondents of
the study, data collection procedure, and data analysis procedure.

Purpose of the Study and the Research Design

This study aims to identify and analyze the common linguistic

errors found in the research proposal by the Grade 12 students of
St. Paul School Barotac Nuevo S.Y 2021-2022.

Since the study will try to analyze the errors made by

students in writing research proposals, descriptive approach will
be utilized using qualitative and quantitative data.

Good (1978) defines descriptive method as a method of

gathering facts with adequate evaluation and interpretation of
anything one may wish to study. According to Aripal (2014), it
describes records, analyzes and interprets what it is. It is used
in different fields of study because of its applicability to
address varied kinds of research problems.

Qualitative research is one kind of research producing

findings that cannot be achieved when using statistical procedures
or any other means. Bogdan and Biklen, S. (1992) pointed out that
qualitative research procedures descriptive data like spoken and
written forms and behavior of people experimented specifically
content analysis.
Locale of the Study

This study will be conducted at St. Paul School Barotac Nuevo.

It is a private school located at Gomez St. Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of this study will be the Grade 12 students

of St. Paul School Barotac Nuevo. A total number of forty-five
(45) students will served as the respondents of the study.

Sampling Technique

A random sampling design will be used to gather data on

linguistic errors in research proposals of Grade 12 students.
Fifteen (15) students will be taken on each strand namely:
Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM), Humanities and Social
Sciences( HUMSS), and Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) a total of forty-five (45) students.

Random sampling refers to a variety of selection techniques

in which sample members are selected by chance, but with a known
probability of selection (Ardales, 2005).

Data Collection Procedure

Before conducting the study, the researcher will seek a
permission from the principal allowing to conduct the study and
another letter addressed to the Senior High School Academic Chair
of St. Paul School Barotac Nuevo. A separate letter will be also
sent to the Grade 12 students, which will serve as the respondents
of the study.
 The procedure will be different since it is pandemic. The
researcher and the respondents will be meeting through online to
establish rapport and discuss what they are going to do in the
research study. Moreover, the researcher will collect the
manuscripts to the forty-five (45) students. These will be
tabulated, analyzed and interpreted. The students will be also
assured that all information gathered will be treated with strict
confidentiality.

When the respondents will successfully submit their drafts to

the researcher, the researcher will compile the drafts and
afterwards will be analyzed as grammatical, syntactical, or
mechanical errors. The details of each of the errors will be
written in the coding sheets. The coding sheets will be the
specific kind of error and the exact phrase/sentence containing
the error.
After the presentation of each linguistic error, the
researchers will take specific samples from the research proposal
drafts to illustrate the most prevalent errors in grammar, syntax,
and mechanics, and provided a detailed explanation to answer to
the research questions. Aside from the descriptive statistics, a
paired sample t-test will be used to determine if there will be a
significant difference between the linguistic errors and the three
strands of Grade 12 from which the research proposal manuscripts
will be taken.
Data Analysis Procedure

The data gathered will be subjected to some statistical

computations.

For descriptive statistics, the following will be utilized:

Frequency count and percentage. These will be used to present the

expressive language domains elicited from the respondents. In
addition, this is to determine the most frequent errors committed
by the respondents on their research proposal.

For inferential statistics, the following will be utilized:

Paired sample t-Test. This will be used to determine the

significant difference of the linguistic errors committed by
respondents when they were grouped according to strand. The
significant difference for the inferential test will be set at
0.05 alpha. All data will be processed using Statistical Package
for Social Sciences (SPPS) software.

For the analysis of the research proposals of the respondents:

Error Analysis. This is based on the different linguistics errors

identified by Darus and Ching (2009) cited in Lasaten (2014).
This will be utilized to examine the errors made by the respondents
in writing their research proposal.