Proceedings of the 2022 3rd International Conference on Mental Health, Education and Human Development (MHEHD 2022)

Error Types and Strategy in the Acquisition of Simple Past Tense: A Study on Chinese Fifth-Grade ESL Learners’ Writing

Authors
Yunting Guo*
Shenzhen Academy of International Education, Shenzhen, 518000, China
*Corresponding author. Email: yguo41@u.rochester.edu
Corresponding Author
Yunting Guo
Available Online 11 July 2022.
DOI
10.2991/assehr.k.220704.255How to use a DOI?
Keywords
error analysis; strategy analysis; simple past tense errors; Chinese fifth-grade students
Abstract

Today in China, learners start to learn English at increasingly early ages. However, for fifth graders, simple past tense is still difficult in writing. This study investigated simple past tense errors in a writing assessment from three participants. It also examined if the correction feedback strategy is effective. All three participants are Chinese non-native speakers in fifth grade. A specific writing assessment including a paragraph writing task and a blank-filling task was given to the participants. Both the assessment and the revised version were collected and analyzed in order to answer the following questions: (1) What are the most common types of errors on simple past tense made by Chinese fifth grade ESL learners? (2) Is the feedback strategy effective? The results showed that the four most common errors in their writing are not doubling the final consonant before adding -ed, changing -y to -i in verbs ending in vowel+y, using simple past tense verbs in a general question and not realizing to use simple past tense in a sentence without definite past adverbials of time. Also, the revised assessment analysis result revealed that the strategy is effective for participants to identify their errors and give the correct answers. The findings may have useful implications for ESL teachers in understanding ESL learners’ difficulties in simple past tense learning and provide an appropriate and effective feedback strategy for ESL teachers.

Copyright
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2022 3rd International Conference on Mental Health, Education and Human Development (MHEHD 2022)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
11 July 2022
ISBN
978-94-6239-589-3
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/assehr.k.220704.255How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Cite this article

TY  - CONF
AU  - Yunting Guo
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/07/11
TI  - Error Types and Strategy in the Acquisition of Simple Past Tense: A Study on Chinese Fifth-Grade ESL Learners’ Writing
BT  - Proceedings of the 2022 3rd International Conference on Mental Health, Education and Human Development (MHEHD 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1396
EP  - 1399
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220704.255
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220704.255
ID  - Guo2022
ER  -