Error Analysis in English Abstracts Written by Veterinary Students in Northeast Thailand
Keywords:
Abstract, Error, Veterinary Student, WritingAbstract
The present study was to 1) investigate types of errors in English abstract written by veterinary students in northeast Thailand and 2) analyze frequency and percentage of writing errors in their English abstracts. In total, 26 English abstracts were included in the study. Error analyses were performed both in sentential and word levels. The results demonstrated that they produced abstracts with approximately 157.58±38.15
words, 10.23±2.52 lines, and 16.65±8.83 points of writing error. Moreover, every abstract consisted of errors both in sentential and word levels. In total, 433 points of error were found and categorized in sentential and word levels for 238 and 195 points, respectively. Based on sentential level, errors included capital letter (88.0%), punctuation (47.0%), subject-verb agreement (46.0%), run-on (21.0%), fragment (19.0%), word order (9.0%), and tense (8.0%). Considering word level, errors included word choice (26.79%), preposition (8.78%), noun (7.16%), and article (2.31%). However, number error was not observed from any abstracts of the MSU veterinary students. In summary, the most eminent errors in sentential level were capital letter, punctuation,
and subject-verb agreement, meanwhile those in word level included word choice, preposition, and noun. The major reason of their writing errors was an insufficient linguistic knowledge, especially in syntax and semantics. Keywords : Abstract, Error, Veterinary Student, Writing
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