An Investigation on the Iraqi Students’ Use of Quantifiers in Their Writing

Abstract

The English quantifier is one of the biggest challenges for L2 learners, especiallyfor the Iraqi learners whose native language has different parameter. Thus, the current study aimed to find out the pattern of grammatical errors regarding the use of quantifiers in the written discourse of Iraqi EFL learners in Kufa, Iraq. Through adopting convenience sampling, the researcher collected the data from 20 (10 male and 10 female) Iraqi university students. They were at the third level of university ranging from 21 to 25 years old. The main source of the study was a descriptive essay written by the participants. The descriptive essays on the topic were chosen as a data collection source because it was related to the participants’ interest and background, so it could motivate and enable them to write comfortably. A T-unit analysis, and a study analysis framework adapted from Dulay, Burt and Krashan (1982), Na-ngam’s (2005) error taxonomy and Richard’s (1971) error categories were used to analyze the data. The frequency and percentage of the committed errors were calculated. In addition, the committed errors by the male and female were calculated separately and compared via independent samples t-test. Overall, 352 (100%) instances of errors related to quantifiers were spotted. The analysis of the data revealed that quantifier errors were basically related morphological errors (71 instances, 28%), misusing the negative and interrogative forms of quantifiers (65 instances, 22%), articles misuse (59 instances, 14%), confusing count and non-count quantifiers (56 instances, 13%), verb use (53 instances, 12%), and quantifier prepositions (48 instances, 11%). Furthermore, the analysis of the data revealed that there is no significant difference between males and females regarding the frequency of quantifier related errors. It was concluded that negative transfer from participants’ mother tongue had a defining role in the high frequency of errors. The findings have implications for teachers and material designers.