English writing errors among multilingual foreign language learners: A psycholinguistic approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53696/27753719.62449Keywords:
ESL, error analysis, psycholinguistics, grammatical errorAbstract
This research investigates the types and sources of English writing errors among students and alumni from non-English foreign language departments, including German, French, Mandarin, Arabic, and Japanese. The study aims to bridge the gap in error analysis research which predominantly focuses on English majors. A descriptive qualitative method was employed, utilizing an Error Analysis (EA) framework. Data were collected from 10 spontaneous essays on the topic "Why did you choose your major?" and analyzed using Ellis’s (1994) procedure and Dulay et al.’s (1982) surface strategy taxonomy. To ensure authenticity, participants were prohibited from using AI or translation tools. The findings reveal that misformation is the most dominant error type, accounting for 55% of the total findings, followed by omission (30%), addition (9%), and misordering (6%). This demonstrates that learners primarily struggle with accurate grammatical and lexical formations. Regarding error sources, the results show a significant dominance of intralingual interference (77%) over interlingual interference (23%). This leads to the conclusion that the participants’ difficulties stem more from the inherent complexity of the English grammatical system and incomplete mastery of its rules than from native language interference. These results highlight a unique linguistic profile for multilingual learners, where developmental confusion outweighs mother-tongue influence. The study recommends that English instruction for foreign language majors should prioritize target language rules to mitigate internal linguistic confusion.
Downloads
References
Abdallah, M. M. (2026). Learning Through Errors: Re-Positioning Mistakes as a Core Strategy in EFL Teaching and Teacher Education. Online Submission.
Alisha, F., Safitri, N., Santoso, I., & Siliwangi, I. (2019). Students’ Difficulties in Writing EFL. Professional Journal of English Education, 2(1), 20-25.
Ananda, R., Gani, S. A., & Sahardin, R. (2014). A Study of Error Analysis from Students' Sentences in Writing. Studies in English Language and Education, 1(2), 81–95. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v1i2.1828
Ariyanti, A. (2016). The Teaching of EFL Writing in Indonesia. Dinamika Ilmu, 16(2), 263-277. https://doi.org/10.21093/di.v16i2.274
Azizah, U., & Budiman, A. (2022). Challenges in Writing Academic Papers for International Publication Among Indonesian Graduates Students. JEELS (Journal of English Education and Linguistics Studies), 4(2), 175-197. https://doi.org/10.30762/jeels.v4i2.405
Batubara, H., & Batubara, M. H. (2025). Analisis Kesalahan Berbahasa Mahasiswa: Kajian Psikolinguistik Terhadap Pembelajar Bahasa Kedua (L2). Advances in Education Journal, 2(3), 1015-1024. https://journal.al-afif.org/index.php/aej/article/view/412
Bitchener, J., & Storch, N. (2016). Written Corrective Feedback for L2 Development. Multilingual Matters.
Corder, S. P. (1967). The Significance of Learners’ Errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 5(1-4), 161-170. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral.1967.5.1-4.161
Corder, S. P. (1981). Error and an Interlanguage. Oxford University Press.
Dulay, H., Burt, M., & Krashen, S. (1982). Language Two. Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2008). The Study of Second Language Acquisition (2nd Ed.). Oxford University Press.
Ferris, D. R. (2011). Treatment of Error in Second Language Student Writing (2nd Ed.). University of Michigan Press.
Fitria, T. N. (2020). Error Analysis Found in Students’ Writing Composition in Simple Past Tense of Recount Text. English Franca: Academic Journal of English Language and Education, 4(2), 141-164. https://doi.org/10.29240/Ef.V4i2.1154
Hapsari, E. W., Sudarman, S., & Utami, S. (2022). Sources of Students' Errors in EFL Writing in Indonesia. Jades Journal of Academia in English Education, 3(2), 141-160. https://doi.org/10.32505/jades.v3i2.4678
Jayanti, A. (2019). Students’ Writing Ability on English Descriptive Text at Grade VIII in SMPN 33 Padang. English Franca: Academic Journal of English Language and Education, 3(1), 71-94. https://doi.org/10.29240/ef.v3i01.843
Levelt, W. J. M. (1989). Speaking: From Intention to Articulation. MIT Press.
Li, S. (2017). Corrective Feedback in Second Language Teaching and Learning. Routledge.
Mubarok, Y., & Budiono, T. (2022). An Error Analysis on EFL Students' Writing. Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities, 9(2), 187-203. https://doi.org/10.22373/ej.v9i2.11386
Mufidah, P. N., & Islam, S. (2022). An Analysis of Grammatical Error on Student's Writing. International Journal of English Education and Linguistics, 4(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.33650/ijoeel.v4i1.3826
Muhsin, M. A. (2016). Analysing The Students Errors in Using Simple Present (A Case Study at Junior High School in Makassar). Pacific Science Review B: Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(3), 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psrb.2016.09.006
Nasser, S. M. (2018). Iraqi EFL Students’ Difficulties in Writing Composition: An Experimental Study (University of Baghdad). International Journal of English Linguistics, 9(1), 178-185. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v9n1p178
Olimat, K. N., & Al-Jamal, D. A. (2022). The Interference of the Native–Speaking Language in The English Writing Performance of Jordanian Universities Students: An Error Analysis Study. International Journal of Health Sciences, 6(S2), 5765-5774. https://doi.org/10.53730/ijhs.v6ns2.6359
Raissah, N., & Aziz, Z. A. (2020). An Investigation of Interlingual and Intralingual Interference Found in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Students’ Composition of Recount Text. English Education Journal, 11(2), 251-275.
Richards, J. C. (1971). A Non-Contrastive Approach to Error Analysis. ELT Journal, 25(3), 204-219. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/xxv.3.204
Richards, J. C. (1974). Error Analysis: Perspectives On Second Language Acquisition. Longman.
Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. W. (2013). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (3rd Ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315833835
Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 10(1-4), 209-232. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral.1972.10.1-4.209
Tantri, Y. G., Romadlon, F. N., & Nurcahyo, A. D. (2023). The Problems Encountered By Non-English Department Students in Speaking English. International Journal of Research in Education, 3(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.26877/ijre.v3i1.12628
Wahyuni, S. (2017). Error Analysis of Students’ Free Writing (A Descriptive Study at the English Department of STKIP Bina Bangsa). Jurnal Pesona, 4(2355). https://doi.org/10.46244/geej.v1i2.673
Wau, C. S. W. (2022). Students’ Difficulties in Writing Definition Paragraph at the Third Semester Students of English Language Education Study Program of STKIP Nias Selatan. Faguru: Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Keguruan, 1(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.57094/faguru.v1i1.496
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Dini Eka Maulida, Madeleine Winday, Gustianingsih
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The authors certify that:
- if the manuscript is co-authored, they are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- the work described has not been formally published before in a registered ISSN or ISBN media, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis.
- it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- its publication has been approved by all the author(s) and by the responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- they secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere (it does not infringe on the rights of others).
- they agree to license and copyright agreement.
All articles published are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
- Authors retain copyright and other proprietary rights related to the article.
- Authors retain the right and are permitted to use the substance of the article in their own future works, including lectures and books.
- Authors grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC BY-NC 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post or self-archive their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
