An analysis of the causes of English grammatical errors in communicative genre: A case study of mathematics students at Gombe State University, Nigeria

 

Bulus Wayar* and Aminu Saleh

 

Research Article | Published October 2016

Journal of Educational Research and Reviews, Vol. 4(5), pp. 45-53

 

 

Department of English, Gombe State University, Nigeria.

 

*Corresponding author. Email: buluswayar@yahoo.com.       

 

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This study was aimed at investigating errors used among mathematics students of Gombe State University, Nigeria. Also, the study explored students’ attitudes towards English. The researchers selected a sample that consisted of 100 Hausa first language speakers, covering different educational backgrounds. The instrument of the study was a sociolinguistics questionnaire. Results indicated that the respondents had both positive and negative attitudes towards the target language – English. They freely used Hausa language in the domain of home and with family members. Also, the results indicated that a total number of 86 errors were committed and most of these students were less proficient in the use of prepositions which was one of the main grammatical aspects. The major causes of the errors were due to new attitude towards English as the users of English in this part of the world have become less proficient in English because Hausa has become ‘the other tongue’ of some speakers who may not have originally come from the Hausa land. The results have also shown that Hausa has constructed a social structure in which those who used the language enjoy privileges in local transactions in trade, religion, instructions, etc. So, due to incessant need for every day communication, a change of ‘new’ rules of English by Hausa users were apparent.