An In-Depth Analysis of Linguistic Deficiencies: A Study Investigating Writing Errors of Undergraduate Students from Three Public Universities in Pakistan

Abstract

The ability to construct cohesive sentences and paragraphs requires mental work, which makes it an essential and adaptable language competency. Writing, though challenging, is taught to students in order to support the growth and application of their writing abilities, not just in the classroom but additionally in postsecondary education and future career pursuits. Beyond the confines of the classroom, writing is essential for children to express their needs, feelings, and viewpoints. Writing instruction consists of four key stages: planning, creating, rewriting, and editing. These steps represent one of the four core language skills. This study deals with the analysis of writing errors made by undergraduate students from three Public Universities of Pakistan. The main objective of the study was to highlight and analyze writing errors from essays written by 45 students. The researcher used qualitative method for this study. After analyzing errors from essays a total of 635 errors were identified which were sub-divided into 18 categories. The findings of the study show the most repeated errors were wrong usage of tense and punctuation marks. Furthermore, identifying the errors made by Pakistani university students proved important since it highlighted the issues they are facing and enabled the instructors to provide the students feedback to improve their writing.