ANALYZING LINGUISTIC ERRORS IN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ ABSTRACTS

Abstract

This research focused on analyzing the linguistic errors found in academic abstracts written by undergraduate EFL students. The main purpose of this study is to identify the types of writing mistakes and explain why students make those errors. Writing an abstract is an important part of academic writing, but many students still face difficulties, especially when English is not their first language. The researcher used qualitative descriptive method to analyze the data. This method was chosen because it helps to explore the real problems that students experience in their writing. The researcher used Surface Strategy Taxonomy (SST) to classify the errors. The taxonomy divides errors into four groups: omission, addition, misformation, and misordering. The data were collected from 100 abstracts taken from a state Islamic university in Lampung, Indonesia. The abstracts were analyzed carefully to find common patterns of error. The results showed that omission was the most frequent error, followed by addition, misformation, and misordering. These mistakes mostly involved grammar, word choice, sentence structure, and academic tone. The errors made it hard to understand the students’ research and showed that students need more guidance in academic writing. This study gives useful information for teachers, so they can improve writing lessons and help students avoid common mistakes. The research also recommends that universities give more support to students through special training and writing workshops. It is hoped that this study can be useful for both teachers and learners to develop better writing in academic English