Effectiveness of Grammatical Categories on UNIZIKUndergraduates’ Writing: A Correctional Intervention
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Lucky Amarachukwu Onebunne
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1* Faculty of Arts, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
This study examines grammatical categories in the academic writing of final-year students at Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
Awka, with a focus on tense, aspects, number and person errors. Using Corder’s Error Analysis (EA) Theory and Krashen’s
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Theory. The study identifies the frequency and nature of these errors to highlight
common challenges faced by English as a Second language (ESL) learners. A total of 20 students were randomly selected
from a population of 154 students and their essays were analysed for grammatical inconsistencies. This study adopts a
descriptive research design and analyses its data qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings reveal that number/subject
verb agreement errors (43.75%) were the most frequent, followed by tense/aspect errors (38.06%), while person errors
(17.19%) were the least common. Notably, students made more errors in narrative writing, particularly in maintaining tense
consistency and subject
generalization of English rules) and inadequate exposure to corrective feedback. Ba
-verb agreement. These challenges were attributed to interlingual transfer, intralingual factors (over
sed on these findings, the study
recommends structured lesson to enhance grammar, incorporating Error Analysis methods in writing instruction and
integrating SLA principles in teaching. It also advocates for corrective feedback strategies to help learners internalize
grammatical rules.
