A Macro-level Error Analysis of Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners’ Performance on Writing Tasks

Abstract

Writing in a foreign language is a highly complex activity and creating an accurate and fluent text demands the dedication of effort and acquisition of expertise in different aspects of writing. Many EFL students are not competent enough in this skill and it is natural to see some instances of errors and deficiencies in their written texts and it is expected that writing instructors be equipped with the essential knowledge and tools to respond to these problems. Accordingly, the present study incorporated insights from the practices of error analysis and the principles of feedback and effective written commentaries in examining a semester-long corpus of a group of Iranian undergraduate EFL learners’ written texts in a paragraph writing course. The study identified and analyzed the instances of errors in different aspects of writing (namely, content and organization, support and development, cohesion and coherence, structure, vocabulary and mechanics), and explored the instructor’s feedback and written commentary on these aspects. The study introduces a flexible, analytic, comprehensive and context-sensitive feedback providing rubric to EFL writing.