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OBI, EDITH IFEYINWA
PG/MA/03/34558
AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH CONCORD OF
STUDENTS IN ONITSHA URBAN
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES,
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA.
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY
STUDIES, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
Webmaster
Digitally Signed by Webmaster‟s Name
DN : CN = Webmaster‟s name O= University of Nigeria, Nsukka
OU = Innovation Centre
NOVEMBER 2009
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AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH CONCORD OF
STUDENTS IN ONITSHA URBAN
BY
OBI, EDITH IFEYINWA
PG/MA/03/34558
A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF
ARTS (M.A. ESL) IN ENGLISH
SUPERVISOR: PROF. SAM ONUIGBO
NOVEMBER, 2009
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APPROVAL PAGE
I, Professor Samuel Onuigbo, of the Department of English and Literary Studies,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, do approve this project as having fulfilled the
requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Arts (English as a Second
Language) in the Department of English and Literary Studies of the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka.
………………………
Prof. Sam Onuigbo
Supervisor
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CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that this project is an independent study carried out by Obi, Edith
Ifeyinwa with the registration number: PG/MA/03/34558 of the Department of
English, Faculty of Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
……………………… …………………………
Prof. Sam Onuigbo Prof. Sam Onuigbo
Supervisor Head of Department
……………………….
External Examiner
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DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to God Almighty and to my husband, Mr. Eric Obi.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe a special debt of gratitude to my supervisor and academic adviser, Professor
Sam Onuigbo for his guidance.
My indebtedness also goes to all the lecturers in the Department of English,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, for their contributions in my academic pursuit.
My profound gratitude goes to my husband, Mr. Eric Obi, my children, my
siblings and my parents. I highly appreciate your patience, financial and moral support.
I equally appreciate the help of my friends, - Ngozi, Kevin, Patience, Uche,
Chinelo, Susan, Nneka and Mabel.
I humbly acknowledge the help of my mentors – Lady Chinyere Nwabueze,
Professor Franca Okeke, Professor Onukwuli, Professor Joy Eyisi, Dr. J. J. Okeke, Dr.
Ngozi Okeke, Dr. Ebele Onwuka, Engr. Edwin Okoye Ejenike and Lady Ebele Erojikwe.
Finally, I thank God Almighty for making this work a reality. I also thank my
blessed Mother, Mary Immaculetta for her assistance and intercession.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page - - - - - - - - - i
Certification - - - - - - - - - ii
Dedication - - - - - - - - iii
Acknowledgments - - - - - - - - iv
Table of contents - - - - - - - - v
Abstract - - - - - - - - - vii
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background of the Study - - - - - - 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem - - - - - - 11
1.3 Aims and Objectives - - - - - - - 12
1.4 Relevance of the Study - - - - - - 14
1.5 The Scope of the Study - - - - - - 15
1.6 Research Methodology - - - - - - 15
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 The Concept of Grammar - - - - - - 17
2.2 The Concept and Components of Syntax - - - - 22
2.3 The Concept of Error - - - - - - - 27
2.4 Categories of Errors - - - - - - - 33
2.5 Sources of Error -- - - - - - - 36
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCEDURE
Introduction - - - - - - - - 46
3.1 Research Design - - - - - - - 46
3.2 Area of Study - - - - - - - - 47
3.3 Population of the Study - - - - - - 48
3.4 Sampling Technique - - - - - - - 48
3.5 Research Instrument - - - - - - - 49
3.6 Method of Data Analysis - - - - - - 50
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CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION, DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
4.1 Analysis of Sampled Questions - - - - - 51
4.2 Statistical Analysis of the Subjects‟ Overall Competence on Concord
in English - - - - - - - - 63
4.3 The Subjects‟ Competence on Different types of Concord - - 64
4.3.1 Subject-Verb Agreement - - - - - - 64
4.3.2 Concord with the Correlatives - - - - - 67
4.3.3 Subject-Complement Concord - - - - - 67
4.3.4 The Concord of Subject and Object - - - - - 68
4.3.5 Pronoun/Antecedent Concord - - - - - 70
4.3.6 Shift in Construction - - - - - - - 71
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, SUGGESTION AND CONCLUSION 72
Works Cited - - - - - - - - - 77
Appendix I - - - - - - - - - 82
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ABSTRACT
The English sentence has a fairly strict word order and the elements that make up
a sentence must be in concord, otherwise, the linear sequence becomes ungrammatical.
This study investigated the degree of competence on concord in English attained by the
senior secondary class three students in Onitsha North Local Government Area of
Anambra State. The need for the work was underscored by the crucial role played by the
English language in Nigerian education. The finding of the study would be relevant in
English language learning and pedagogy. A simple survey research design was adopted
for the study and the subjects of the study comprised five hundred students from five
secondary schools in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State. One
hundred objective questions set on different types of concord were used as test
instrument. The subjects‟ errors were classified and analysed using a simple percentage
and arithmetic mean. Standard mean of 75 and above was used as an indication of the
mastery of the rules of concord. The finding of the research revealed that the subjects
have not mastered the rules guiding different types of concord. They were unable to
dictate concord errors caused by shift in the construction of elements of sentences. The
causes of concord errors were more intralingual than interlingual. The implications of the
finding in the teaching and learning of English were discussed and suggestions for
improvement made.
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CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background of the Study
Nigeria is a multilingual country with the English language as the key medium of
communication. The language is used in politics, government administration, law, mass
media, commerce and education. Consequently, every facet of the country‟s life depends
largely on the English language. To the majority of Nigerians, the yardstick for
measuring the degree of one‟s level of educational attainment is one‟s performance in the
English language.
The first education ordinance of 1882 recognized only the English language as
language of instruction. Since then, the language has been „the barometer with which the
quality, efficiency and effectiveness of our school curricular are measured‟ (Eyisi 3).
Poor performance in the language leads to poor performance in other subjects.
The new National Policy on Education, sections four and five, does not only
recommend the English language as the language of instruction from the fourth year of
primary education, it is also a compulsory subject in secondary and tertiary levels of
education in Nigeria. Hence, a credit pass in English at senior secondary school
certificate or general certificate O‟ level examination is a prerequisite for admission into
various tertiary institutions in the country.
Regrettably, the mastery of this very important language is confronted with a lot
of challenges, such as dearth of sufficiently qualified teachers of English, lack of role
models, negative attitude to the learning of the language, poor reading culture and above
all, inadequate exposure to the intricacy of the grammar of the language as well as faulty
application of grammatical rules. Eyisi affirms that:
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… although the available position of English in the national life is waxing
stronger than it has been, the spoken and written quality of the language in
Nigeria, as perceived by the expert judges have deteriorated to a drastic
level (10).
To buttress this assertion, the WAEC Chief Examiners Reports of 2000, 2002 and 2004
respectively, revealed that candidates‟ responses to the examination questions were rather
disappointing, in spite of the fact that the questions were clear. They stated that the
candidates‟ short-comings were their inability to express ideas correctly in English and
abuse of basic rules of grammar. It is also an incontestable fact that good writing stems
from adequate familiarity with the grammatical components of a language.
Grammar in its simplest sense is „the study of how a language works‟ (Charpman
155). What this means specifically is that grammar is the study of the systems and
patterns which operate in a language to give meaning to an utterance. These acceptable
systems and patterns are believed to constitute the rules of language. These rules govern
the sounds, words, sentences and other elements, as well as their combination and
interpretation. (Encyclopedia Britannica 410) Chomsky confirms „…that a fully adequate
grammar must assign to each of an infinite range of sentences, a structural pattern
indicating how this sentence is to be understood by the ideal speaker-hearer‟ (4 – 5).
In English grammar, there are rules, which govern variations in the form of
words, variation in the word order and combination of phonemes. The phonology of
English, for instance, permits the combination of certain phonemes in a particular
sequence to form acceptable patterns. Let us consider the letters „p‟, „a‟, „t‟, when in
combination English words such as „pat‟, „tap‟ and „apt‟ are realized but „atp‟ on possible
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combination is not permissible in the language. In the same vein, „books‟ is the plural of
„book‟, but „mans‟ is not accepted as the plural of „man‟.
The same holds for word order, which accounts for acceptability and
unacceptability of the following utterances:
I want oranges.
* Want oranges I.
Ngozi has a pen.
* Ngozi have a pen.
Evidently, any deviation from the established and acceptable norm is termed deviant or
ungrammatical represented with asterisks in the above utterances.
The rules of grammar derive from and encompass the various parts of speech that
constitute the elements of a sentence. In the English language, the parts of speech,
according to Quirk and Greenbaum (18) can be exemplified as follows:
(a) noun – John, room, answer, play
adjective – happy, steady, new, large, round
adverb – steadily, completely, really, very, then
verb – search, grow, play, be, have, do
(b) article – the, a, an
demonstrative – that, this
prepositions – of, at, in, without, in spite of
conjunction – and, that, when, although
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These units of speech are not arranged haphazardly in a sentence. Their occurrence and
positions in a sentence must be guided by the syntax of the language. A particular part of
speech must be in agreement with another part of speech for them to co-occur in a
sentence. This is known as concord. Quirk et al in Onuigbo defines concord as „a
relationship between two grammatical elements such that if one of them selects a given
feature, the other has to have the same feature‟. (96) This kind of relationship exists
between the subject and the verb in a sentence so that if the subject contains a plural
feature, the verb must have the same feature in order to make the sentence grammatically
acceptable. This kind of concord between the subject and the verb on the basis of number
is technically referred to as grammatical concord as exemplified in the following
sentences:
My brother is here.
My brothers are here.
In the first sentence, the singular subject, „my brother‟ selects the singular verb, „is‟ while
in the second sentence, the plural verb, „are‟ must co-occur with a plural subject, „My
brothers‟ for acceptability of the sentence. Quirk and Greenbaum (176) explain that
grammatical concord is the most important concord in English. Other patterns of
agreement or concord are subject-Complement Concord; Pronoun-Antecedent Concord,
Concord of Person, Subject-Object Concord, Concord with Correlatives, Law of
Proximity and Notional Concord.
The following sentences illustrate the different types of concord:
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Subject-Verb Concord or Grammatical Concord
Adaeze eats food every day.
Singular subject Singular verb.
Eze and Adaeze eat food every day.
Plural subject Plural verb.
Subject-Complement Concord
Here, the subject of a sentence must agree with the complement in relation to
number.
Dr. and Mrs. Okoye are my sponsors.
Plural subject Plural complement
This lady is an actress
Singular subject Singular complement
Pronoun-Antecedent Concord
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, case and gender.
Nnanna and Obi wash their clothes every day.
S
Nnanna washes his clothes every day.
S
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„his‟ and „their‟ are pronouns in agreement with their antecedents (the subjects).
I invited the students and told them to play in the field.
„them‟ is a pronoun in the objective case. It agrees with its antecedent, the students, the
object of the first clause.
Chinyere visited her husband.
„Chinyere‟ is a feminine subject in agreement with „her‟, a feminine pronoun.
Concord of Person
There is always concord of person between subject and verb.
I am ready. (1st person singular concord)
s v
You are wise. (2nd person singular/plural concord)
s v
She is clever. (3rd person singular concord)
s v
They are sleeping. (3rd person plural concord)
s v
Subject-Object Concord
The rule here is that in any expression where the objective element is a reflexive pronoun,
there is usually a concord of person, number and gender between it and the subject. This
means there should be no shift in person, number and gender. The following examples
illustrate this:
The girls enjoyed themselves at the party.
She told me about the robbery herself.
I can do the work myself.
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Ekene blamed himself for being so flippant.
Concord with the Correlatives
The correlative conjunctions often used to join subjects are: as well as, together with,
along with, either… or, neither … nor, not … only but and others. In the use of
correlatives, the choice of the verb that co-occurs with the co-ordinate subject is
determined by either the first or the second of the subject. The illustrations are given
below.
a. Azuka as well as her sisters is here.
b. Her sisters as well as Azuka are here.
c. Either you or I am to do it.
d. Either I or you are to do it.
e. Neither you nor I am to do it.
f. Neither I nor you are to do it.
g. Okafor together with his wife and children was there.
h. The wife and children together with Okafor were there.
In sentences c, d, e, f, the verbs agree with the second of the subjects but in sentences a,
b, g and h the verbs agree with the first of the subjects.
Concord by Proximity
Concord by proximity otherwise known as concord by attraction simply means that the
number of the verb should be determined by the noun or pronoun closest to it.
See the following examples.
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Either the woman or her daughters are present.
Either her daughters or the woman is present.
Notional Concord
It is the agreement of the verb with the subject according to the idea of number rather
than the actual presence of the grammatical marker of the idea. Notional concord stands
in contrast to grammatical concord. This makes it possible for a singular subject to agree
with a plural verb without the sentence being considered grammatically incorrect. The
following examples illustrate this.
The government are doing their best to develop the rural areas.
Everybody cast their votes on the election day.
With the exception of the notional concord and law of proximity, a leaner has to
apply the stable rules that govern the other types of concord in order to make
grammatically acceptable sentences. Violation of the rules on the other hand, results in
production of unacceptable linear sequence.
The norms of a language may be learnt through either of two approaches. On the
one hand, one may use the rules that one has known to meet one‟s communicative need.
In this case, the person always restricts his usage to the few rules he is familiar with and
avoids those rules he is unfamiliar with. On the other hand, the language user may use his
communicative needs and situations which arise spontaneously to experiment on the rules
whether he knows them or not. Hence, occurrence of errors in language learning is
inevitable.
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French (1949) in Aiyewumi et al explains that „errors are not evidence of
carelessness or unwillingness but of growing pains and desire to learn.‟ (7) Corder (1967)
believes that learners‟ errors are of particular importance because the making of errors
can be regarded as a device that learners use in order to learn (see Agamah et al 8).
Headbloom (1979) in Ubahakwe defines errors as „a systematic deviation from the target
language by a non-native speaker(s)‟ (27) He explains that a learner‟s error exhibits his
incompetence in a particular aspect of language. Headbloom further distinguishes errors
from mistakes. Mistakes could be caused by slip of the tongue, oversight in writing,
distractions and so on. Mistakes could easily be corrected by the person who made them;
but a person who has committed an error is incapable of correcting it unless he is taught
the correct form.
Errors could be interlingual or intralingual in nature. „Interlingual errors are
caused by analogy with the native language while intralingual errors imply general
characteristics of rule learning such as overgeneralization or faulty application of rules or
conditions‟ (See Ubahakwe 32).
Most Nigerian learners of English have acquired their first language to an
appreciable degree before they are introduced to the English language. Consequently, the
contact between the English language and their indigenous or first language has its
implications-the sound system and grammar of the first language interfering with those of
English. This usually leads to interlingual errors. In every English sentence, for instance,
the verb must agree in number and person with its subject. This rule runs contrary to Igbo
syntax. There is no lexical distinction between a singular and plural verb as illustrated
below:
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Igbo English
Ọ na-abia. He is coming.
s v s v
Ha na-abia. They are coming.
s v s v
The verbal element „na-abia‟ goes with both singular and plural subjects. Therefore,
„there is no grammatical agreement between the subject and the verb‟ (Oluikpe 110).
Again, there is no gender distinction between a masculine and feminine pronoun. „Ọ na-
abia‟ could mean He is coming or She is coming. Other examples of discrepancies
between the two languages abound.
The complex nature of the English language often creates problem for a second
language learner in his effort to internalize and apply the rules of the language. For
instance, though there are rules governing the English concord, the flexibility of the
language and its inherent irregular forms could result in construction of deviant sentences
by learners. For instance, there are irregular ways of forming the plurals of certain nouns.
Differentiating between the singular and plural forms of words of foreign origin is
sometimes difficult to learners. Some English words, though have plural marker(s) are
obligatorily singular while some nouns are never singular. See the following examples:
Singular Plural
hat hats
book books
mouse mice
ox oxen
Regular nouns
Irregular nouns
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focus focuses/foci
syllabus syllabuses/syllabi
synopsis synopses
Some of the singular words that end in plural markers but must obligatorily co-occur with
singular verbs are headquarters, alms, gallows and others.
Nouns like trousers, scissors, glasses, arrears, amends, minutes, particulars are always
plural and must select plural verbs. An ESL learner who is not quite conversant with
these irregular forms in the language is bound to commit grammatical errors, unless he is
well grounded in these exceptional cases.
Therefore, considering the interlingual and intralingual problems confronting the
learner of English as a second language, there is an urgent need to make the learners
internalize and make use of the appropriate grammar rules, which generate the correct
form of the English language. Analysis of students‟ concord errors will expose the
students‟ transitional competence in this aspect of the language.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The poor performance of Nigerian students in the English language is a matter
that calls for concern. The failure in English is mainly attributable to their poor
knowledge of the basic rules of grammar.
The knowledge of the rules of concord in English grammar is very necessary if
one is to speak and write good English. The study of this aspect of grammar does not
only highlight subject-verb relationship, but equally brings to the fore, the acceptable
relationship of some other elements in a sentence. Perhaps, this informs its regular
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appearance in the scheme of work at primary and secondary school levels of education. It
is also a common feature in virtually every grammar textbook. The assumption, therefore,
is that students at senior secondary school level should be conversant with the agreement
of sentence elements, having been exposed to the rules of concord early enough.
However, the reverse is the case. Previous studies in error analysis revealed that
errors of concord are one of the commonest errors made by learners of English as a
second language. This revelation calls for more serious attention to error analysis.
It is pertinent to note that a lot of work has been done on error analysis but these
are general investigation into the English language error patterns. Much work has not
been done on the specific areas of the language such as concord errors. There is a need to
streamline and study these specific error patterns for more effective teaching and
learning.
The problem of this study therefore is to ascertain the senior secondary school
class 3 students‟ competence on concord in the English language.
1.3 Aims and Objectives
The importance of grammar in the learning of any language can never be over-
emphasized. The grammar of a language must be thoroughly mastered before one can use
it with some degree of accuracy and confidence. A lucid, and convincing piece of writing
as a matter of necessity, must be grammatical for complete acceptability of such writing
as a standard form. „To develop the needed competence and to ensure a high level of
performance, one has to internalize the structure of the language to the point of
automaticity‟ (Ubahakwe 46).
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The specific topic of this study is to find out, through multiple choice objective
testing, the degree of competence in concord attained by the subjects of the study. It is a
cognitive test of language competence. This is premised on the fact that competence is
the sole aim of language learning and teaching. Corder explained that competence could
be tested by the learner‟s ability to distinguish between grammatically acceptable or non–
acceptable sentences, recognize sentence relationships and also paraphrase sentences
(91 – 97).
The choice of the top class of the secondary education, that is, SS3 is appropriate
since the students are expected to have attained a level of competence in the English
language. The specific competence sought in the test is the knowledge of the rules of
grammatical concord, subject complement concord, pronoun–antecedent concord,
concord of person, subject–object concord and concord with correlatives. Concord of
proximity and notional concord are excluded in the study because they do not provide
reliable guidance as well as stable grammatical rules.
To achieve the objective of the study, the researcher adopts error analysis which
Candaline calls „a chief means of both assessing the pupil‟s learning in general and of the
degree of match between his learning „syllabus‟ and the teacher‟s teaching one‟ (Agamah
et al 6). Error analysis therefore, provides „corrective feedback to general linguistics and
to language learners theory‟ (Jain 8). Consequently, error analysis of the selected
subjects‟ performance will give an insight into the students‟ weaknesses and strengths in
the rules of concord. This will be of great help in remedial teaching and curriculum
designing.
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The choice of the area of study is conditioned by the fact that language studies
and pedagogy seem to point at the verb as the most difficult area in language study and
English concord has a lot to do with the agreement of verb and other elements in a
sentence. It is therefore, the aim of the researcher to characterize these verb errors in the
English concord through the subjects‟ performance.
The subjects of the study are SS3 students. These students are at the threshold of
tertiary institutions, which demand a lot of essays. This study will expose their
transitional competence in the rudiments of English concord. The students will also be
acquainted with the rules of concord. This knowledge will help them to improve on their
English language performance.
1.4 Relevance of the Study
This study will contribute to the existing literature on the efforts that have been
made by scholars to promote acquisition of proficiency in English language by second
language learners.
The study will help to evaluate the students‟ knowledge of the rules of concord
and their application of those rules in their language performance. The analysis of the
concord errors will also expose the common cause(s) of concord errors that are made by
students, which may be intralingual or interlingual in nature. This knowledge will help
the language teachers and textbook writers to know the areas they will emphasize in this
aspect of grammar as well as the best teaching method to adopt in order to help students
overcome their difficulties.
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It is also hoped that the findings of the work will serve as a useful guide for the
formulation of improved English curriculum by curriculum designers.
The researcher believes, therefore, that the findings of this study will constitute an
important resource material for the English language teachers, the curriculum planners,
the textbook designers, students, and future researchers.
1.5 The Scope of the Study
This study is limited to Senior Secondary School class three (SS3) students in
Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State. There are ten public secondary
schools in the area but the subjects of the study will be drawn from five schools. Our
focus in the study is on the English concord. Thus, the goal of this research is to find out
the level of competence attained in the use of concord by the subjects through error
analysis.
1.6 Research Methodology
The data for this research will be generated from multiple choice objective test
items, set on the different types of concord under investigation. A total of hundred
objective questions will be administered to five hundred students. These students will be
selected from five out of ten public secondary schools in Onitsha North Local
Government Area of Anambra State. The testing instrument will be constructed in such a
manner that the testees will choose only one correct answer for each test item.
The test would be conducted at the schools by the researcher under examination
conditions. Every contact with the different groups of student will last for an hour. The
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preference of the multiple-choice objective questions to essay question is because such
questions are concise and contain no structural ambiguities.
The students‟ response would be scored and analyzed. In the analysis, the
arithmetic mean will be used to determine the actual performance of the groups, and their
overall achievement will be based on a competence mean of 75. Simple percentage will
also be used to discover the students‟ performance on each item in the question paper.
Students‟ errors on the different types of concord will be classified to know the
frequency of their occurrence. Samples of the students‟ errors will also be presented and
discussed.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Some earlier works and studies related to the concept of grammatical and concord
errors, their causes, types, analyses as well as their implication in the teaching and
learning of English as a second language are reviewed in this chapter. These are
presented under the following sub-headings:
2.1 The Concept of Grammar
2.2 The Concept and Components of Syntax
2.3 The Concept of Error
2.4 Categories of Errors
2.5 Sources of Errors
2.1 The Concept of Grammar
The term „grammar‟ is broad and as such, it is difficult to arrive at an all-
embracing definition of the concept. Many linguists have defined grammar in different
ways. These various and diverse definitions evidently account for the different senses in
which the word, grammar is used. One established fact is that „every language has its
distinct grammar‟. „No language can exist without a grammar and no one can make
appropriate use of a language without the knowledge of its grammar‟ (Eyisi 1). Tomori
shares this view and defines grammar as „…the art of speaking and writing correctly. To
speak is to explain one‟s thoughts by signs that man have invented for this purpose‟ (5)
To Lancelot and Arnuld, the term, grammar, is synonymous with language. Grammar is
27
therefore, defined in the Encyclopedia Britannica as „the study of how a language works‟
(Charpman 151) Frisby explains this and sees grammar as:
…the study of the behaviour of words, word group and changes in the
meanings of words, which are a reflection of changes in the appearance
and sound of words. The study of the language as we hear it, and see it and
say it, of its analysis into its several parts and our ability to put it together
again and to follow patterns already learnt – this is grammar and this is
language. (72)
Lyons (24) explains that Chomsky uses the word, grammar in his more recent
writing as: the whole of the systematic description of language including both phonology
and semantics. This view is also shared in the New International Webster‟s
Comprehensive Dictionary of English thus:
Grammar is the systematic analysis of the classes and structure of words
(morphology) and of their arrangements and interrelation (syntax), the
study of all aspects of language as phonology, orthography, syntax,
etymology, semantics and prosody. (318)
This definition sees grammar as an „all-embracing‟ term for all linguistic studies.
Everything that needs to be known in a language comes under grammar.
McGregor in Azikiwe states that „grammar is the rules and observations drawn
from common speech of mankind which teaches us to speak and pronounce, to spell and
write with propriety and exactness according to the custom of the native speakers.‟ (179)
What this means specifically is that grammar is the study of the systems and patterns
28
which operate in a language to give meaning to an utterance. These acceptable systems
and patterns are believed to constitute the rules of language.
To buttress this assertion, grammar is defined in Encyclopedia Britannica as „the
rules of language governing the sounds, words, sentences and other elements, as well as
their combination and interpretation.‟ (410) Eyisi throws more light on this and states that
grammar in this sense is seen as a set of normative rules that determine correctness in the
use of language; that is, all those rules which when mechanically applied, will produce all
the well-constructed sentences that are found in a language. A sentence is, therefore,
incorrect if it breaks any of these rules. She explains that grammar when used in this
sense, includes three different parts, namely phonological part, morphological part and
syntactic part. (3) Anizoba and Anizoba add that grammar does not only involve the
application of basic rules of a language to form acceptable sentences. These sentences
must be used in appropriate context. To them therefore, „Good English‟ involves both
grammatically correct sentences and their usage in suitable context. (43)
Grammar is also understood as „the study of established usage of what is
preferred among educated or cultivated speakers and writers … and what is condemned‟
(Charpman 151). Hence, some utterances are said to be „good‟ or „correct‟ grammar of
English while some are considered „bad‟ or incorrect grammar‟. Sometimes, we pass
judgment on the quality of language used by people when we describe their usage as
good or bad grammar. This judgment is usually arrived at when we duly consider
people‟s pronunciation and fluency, construction of words and sentences and even their
comprehension of complex lexical and syntactic usage. In the light of this, Yule sees
grammar as „what might be considered linguistic etiquette‟. That is, the identification of
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the proper and best structures to be used in a language (Yule 87). This implies that there
are bound to be prescriptive statements about usages that are considered acceptable and
those that are considered unacceptable in a particular language.
Grammar also represents the intuitive knowledge of the native speakers of their
language. That is, the actual knowledge which the native speakers posses of their
language which enables them to construct sentences including those they have not heard
before. Yule calls this „mental grammar … which operates in the production and
recognition of appropriately structured expression in [a] language‟. (87) Yule explains
that this grammar is subconscious and is not the result of any teaching. Noam Chomsky is
a notable proponent of this concept of grammar. A native speaker‟s intuitive knowledge
of the grammar of his language is technically known as his linguistic competence while
his actual language usage is known as performance.
Grammar also denotes a book presenting the rules and conventions that are
observable in a language. Thus a book which describes the rules and structures of
language is entitled „grammar‟. One can pick any of them, for instance, and say: this is
grammar of Igbo or English as the case may be. The first grammar ever written was „The
Art of Grammar‟ written by Dionysius Thrax, an Alxandrian Greek of the first century
BC. This first formal grammar was only about four hundred lines, but it has influenced
the work of countless grammarians in the formulation of grammar for virtually all the
languages of the world.
Grammar could represent the study and analysis of the structures found in a
language usually with the aim of establishing a description of the grammar of English, for
example as distinct from the grammar of Russian, or French or any other language.
30
(See Yule 21) Eyisi sees this concept of grammar as „the subject matter of a study‟. She
explains that:
When one says, for instance, that the grammar of English is different from
the grammar of Igbo, one has at the back of one‟s mind not the meaning as
a branch of study but the meaning as the subject matter of the study (4).
This sense of grammar highlights the importance of contrastive analysis of a second
language learner‟s first language and the target language. The description of the structural
patterns of the two languages will expose the similarities and dissimilarities of the
languages as well as the possible difficulties a second language leaner will encounter in
the process of learning the grammar of the second or target language.
Grammar in another sense denotes „a particular branch of the study of linguistics
which is distinct from but allied to the study of phonemics on the one had and study of
meaning (semantics) on the other‟ (Eyisi 2) Nwankwo explains that grammar in this
sense is an abstract and theoretical field of study for teachers and students particularly
those who teach and study languages and linguistics. Their main preoccupation in this
field is to x-ray the body of descriptive statements about the morphological and syntactic
structures of a language with a view to acquiring knowledge about the correct uses of the
language.
In all the cases above, grammar could mean a set of normative rules that
determine correctness in the use of a language; a book embodying the morphological and
syntactic rules of a language; a branch of the study of linguistics; the subject matter of
that study; a body of prescriptive statements about the usage that are considered
acceptable and those that are considered unacceptable in a particular language; and the
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intuitive knowledge of the native speakers about their language. Depending on the
approach adopted by a grammarian therefore, grammar maybe prescriptive (that which
provides rules for correct usage), descriptive (which describes how a language is actually
used), or generative, (which provides instruction for the production of an infinite number
of sentences)
2.2 The Concept and Components of Syntax
The word „syntax‟ came originally from Greek and meant „a setting out together‟
or „arrangement‟. (Yule 100) As a linguistic concept, syntax basically deals with the
arrangement and relationship of words in a grammatical linear sequence or sentence. That
is, it is the principles and processes that guide the combination of words to construct
sentences in a particular language.
Syntax is therefore, defined in the Webster‟s Encyclopedia Unbridged Dictionary
of the English language as „the study of the rules for the formation of grammatical
sentences in a language or the rules that govern the interrelationship of words in
sentences. There are several grammatical categories that affect this relationship between
the words in a sentence and these are tense, number, gender, person and others. There has
to be agreement or concord between the major elements in a sentence in terms of these
grammatical categories. The verb also agrees with its subject in the same category. For
example, the singular subject „He‟ is made to agree with the singular form of the verb to
be in the sentence, „He is a good boy‟; and the plural subject „they‟ must select a plural
verb „are‟ in the sentence, „They are good boys‟. Otherwise, the sentences would not be
acceptable in the English language.
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In line with this, the World Book Encyclopedia vol. 8 (518) creates a clearer as
well as broader picture of syntax as:
…the rules that govern the positioning of words in phrases, clauses and
sentences; Rules on concord, punctuation, co-occurrence, tenses, phrases
and clauses; the entire phrase structure rules, transformation, deletion,
insertion etc.
The dictionary further explains that syntax and morphology make up grammar though
syntax accounts for greater percentage of the components of grammar. Tomori shares this
view and says that „syntax is the study of the rules governing the formation of linguistic
units larger than words‟; [while] morphology is the study of the rules governing the
formation of words in a language (Tomori 21).
The operational words in the above definitions are still „the rules‟ and
words/group arrangement‟. The definitions also stress the importance of strict adherence
to the norms that guide the intricacies of a language. If one is to use a language correctly,
one should not take anything for granted. A second language learner should be mindful of
the fact that word order is not the same in all languages. In English we say, „I gave Jim
the ball‟. In another language, the order might be „the ball I gave Jim‟.
Bloomfield (see Tomori 21) and Jowit agree that syntax and morphology are
closely linked grammatical components. Jowit, for instance, explains that „syntax often
deals with the structure, use and meaning as well as with the combinatorial properties of
such words and so trespasses upon the territory of morphology, lexis and semantics‟.
(107) This definition sees morphology as an integral part of syntax; and equally stresses
that arrangement of words in a sentence could also determine the meaning of that
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sentence. The World Book Encyclopedia vol. 8 (518) buttresses this assertion and
explains that „when we put words together in proper order, we are able to express the
meaning we intend. The sentence, „I was shown a book in black leather by the Clerk‟ has
a different meaning from the sentence, „I was shown a book by the Clerk in black
leather‟. The meaning has changed because the syntax has changed. A verb for instance,
could be nominalized. When this happens, its position in a grammatical unit is altered in
order to ensure the acceptability of such a unit in the English language. The following
examples illustrate this:
(i) Mothers educate their children on how to behave well.
(verb)
(ii) Children receive their early education from their mothers.
(noun)
(iii) The educated children are here.
(adjective)
Anagbogu et al (32) say that syntax is often referred to as grammar while
grammar is sometimes used to refer to morphology and syntax, or the whole of language
description of phonetics and syntax.
Eyisi on the other hand states that syntax is an aspect of grammar, and this
syntactic aspect of grammar comprises two subsets of rules called basic and non-basic
rules. She explains that when we apply a sequence of basic rules, we will produce a
well-defined sentence type that we can call a basic sentence or kernel sentence or a
simple sentence. On the other hand, when we apply the non-basic rules, we realize other
sentence types called non-basic sentences. (4) A basic sentence is that which comprises
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only the obligatory parts of a sentence. These parts are subject, verb, object, complement.
„Each basic simple sentence pattern is made up of parts that are arranged in a definite
order (a particular part before another, and not the other way round)‟ (Aremo 1) A non-
basic sentence is a sentence whose obligatory elements may be extended through the
process of modification. The presence of modifiers is optional in non-basic sentences.
The essence of this modification is to add more information to the basic sentence for
more effective communication as well as lucid presentation of ideas. Aremo added that
the following operations: movement, deletion and insertion are also involved in the
formation of non-basic sentences (5). The following are examples of basic and non-basic
simple sentences:
1. Dogs barked. (a basic simple sentence)
2. The fierce looking dogs barked (a non-basic simple sentence premodified by the
adjectival phrase – „the fierce looking‟)
3. The boy is wise (a basic simple sentence)
The boy on the bus is wise. (a non-basic simple sentence post-modified by the
adverbial phrase – „on the bus‟)
Chomsky contends that syntax is deeply concerned with the relationship between
finite and infinite. Most languages have finite number of basic words, but these words
can be put together to make an infinite number of sentences. He also affirms that there
are rules and patterns that can be used in a dynamic way to create and understand new
English sentences. However, he warns that these rules should be stated explicitly and
precisely with nothing being taken for granted. Chomsky‟s argument lays bare, the
importance of observing strictly, the norms that govern a language if one wants to speak
35
or write the language correctly. It also exposes the elasticity of a man‟s mind which
enables him to create unpredictable number of novel sentences in order to fulfill his
language need at any given time. Once a language user is equipped with the grammatical
rules of that language, he manipulates that language to suit his purpose. His proficiency
in the language is guaranteed.
Furthermore, Chomsky believes that a native speaker of a language has the rules
of his language embedded in his language faculty. He, therefore, has intuitive knowledge
of his language. This natural endowment enables him to make an infinite number of
sentences from a finite number of words. This ability is known as linguistic competence
and his actual usage of the language is his performance. In confirmation of this assertion,
Yule states that; „Each adult speaker of a language clearly has a form of internal
linguistic knowledge which operates in the production and recognition of appropriately
structured expression in that language‟. (87)
Banjo argues that „the most revolutionary aspect of Chomskyn linguistics was the
distinction, made between surface and deep structure‟ (see Tomori 105) Tomori defines
deep and surface structure thus:
The deep structure of a sentence is the underlying syntactico-semantic
component of a sentence; and the surface structure is the form in which
the sentence appears, phonologically or orthographically. (83)
He further illustrates the above definition with the following sentences:
(i) Your shoes need cleaning.
(ii) Your friends keep coming.
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Tomori explains that the two sentences appear to have the same surface structure, but the
deep structures of the two sentences are different in that they are derived in different
syntactic ways. Sentence (i) is derived from two underlying basic sentences: Your shoes
are dirty; someone must clean them. Sentence (ii) has only one sentence as its basis. It is
the underlying sentence.
The views of linguistics discussed above have one focal point – that syntax is the
study of the arrangement of words or other linguistic units in a sentence. This study is
done in line with the syntactic rules that govern the language that is being studied, in
order to ensure the acceptability or grammaticality of the linear sequence. The study is
done along the horizontal axis. Brooks (12) opines that „knowledge of the grammar of a
language borne out of thorough linguistic study is a prerequisite to proficiency in
language; and syntax is the heart of the study of grammar. A speaker of the English
language whose syntax is faulty will either fail to communicate meaningfully or irritate
his audience who has sound knowledge of English grammar.
Conscious effort should be made to avoid errors in the area of syntax because of
its pivotal position in language study.
2.3 The Concept of Error
The word, error („errare‟ in Latin) is defined in the Webster‟s New International
Dictionary of the English language as „a departure or deviation from that which is right or
correct‟. (1869) In relation to language study, Corder defines errors as „breaches of the
code of a language‟. (76) He states that errors are deviant structures or unacceptable
utterances which are signs of „imperfect knowledge‟ of the linguistic code. To him
37
therefore, errors are committed by those who are not grounded in the structure of a
language. Headbloom shares this view and comments that „errors are goof or deviant
productions, they are a systematic deviation from the target language by a non–native
speaker‟. (See Ubahakwe 30) Ellis agrees with Headbloom that language error is peculiar
to a second language learner. Hence, he defines errors „as deviations from the target
language by a non-native speaker‟. (32) He added that these errors are committed out of
socio-linguistic and socio-cultural factors. Headblooms and Ellis‟ definitions point out
that errors are exclusive to second language learners.
Richards believes that an error is not just the outcome of carelessness or
forgetfulness. An error is characterized by systematic deviancy. (See Aiyewumi et al 4)
In the same vain, French in Aiyewumi describes errors in language learning as „those
oddities that are not evidence of carelessness or of unwillingness but of growing pains
and desire to learn‟. (4)
Brooks asserts that errors are inevitable in language learning. He argues that „it is
just as unrealistic to reckon on language learning without errors as to reckon on existence
without sin‟ (See Ubahakwe 27) Krashen (64) accepts that errors are deviations from the
norms of a language. Lengo equally agrees that errors are deviations from the norms of a
language and that their investigation could simultaneously be diagnostic and prognostic.
(81) Diagnostic in the sense that it can tell the learner‟s level of language acquisition and
prognostic in the sense that it can tell a course organizer to re-arrange language learning
material on the basis of the learner‟s current problems. Myles says that errors are
something that might happen from time to time until the second language learner
internalizes the language entirely. He defines an error as „a derailment in the speech or
38
writing of a second language learner by the use of inappropriate words and language
structures‟. (5) Myles also explains that a second language teacher can only assess the
learners‟ ability from the range or type of errors they make. Krashen added that „errors
must occur before correct grammar rules are completely internalized‟ (66)
Lengo opines that foreign language learners tend to commit relatively more errors
in spontaneous speech than in written discourse. Adejare (58) sees the learner of English
as a second language as prone to errors, both in speech and writing. This is because such
a learner is faced with both interlingual and intralingual problems of learning English as a
second language. Jain in Aiyewumi et al considers errors as an essential condition of
learning. (5) Corder equally has a positive attitude to errors. He believes that errors are
facilitative rather than inhibitory in language learning process. He stresses that learner‟s
errors are of particular importance because the making of errors can be regarded as a
device the learner uses in order to learn. (5) Yankson therefore, urges teachers of English
to have „a humane and tolerant attitude to error because the error is a natural inevitable
outcome of the second language learning process‟. (8)
The above views still suggest that native speakers of a language are immune to
error in their languages. Error making is inevitable in the learning of a foreign language.
Lenon strongly believes that a first language speaker is immune to errors in his language.
He defines errors as:
… a linguistic form or combination of forms which in the same context
and under the same similar condition of production, would in all
likelihood not be produced by the speaker‟s native speaker‟s counterpart
(82)
39
In line with Lenon‟s view, Krashen states that linguistic error is „a form or structure that
native speakers deem unacceptable because of its inappropriate use‟. (64) Krashen‟s
definition rhymes with Chomsky‟s postulation that a native speaker knows his grammar
intuitively. Therefore, it goes without saying that irrespective of a native speaker‟s level
of education, he can easily recognize a deviance in the grammar of his language. He is a
competent judge over the correct usage of his language. This is quite a controversial
issue. Consequently, Banjo suggests that errors should be measured against an
indominative model instead of being seen from the perspective of a native speaker of a
language (7).
Lott looks at errors from the concept of linguistic interference. Thus, he defines
linguistic errors as „errors in the learner‟s use of the foreign language that can be traced
back to the mother tongue‟. (15) Dulay and Burts share this view and state that „linguistic
interference spawns errors‟ Headbloom affirms this and says that „it is obvious that
interference from a learner‟s native language is a source of error in the new language‟
(31). He equally explains that a second language learner is not a passive recipient of
language but rather:
… he is constantly testing the new language, making rules and then
altering and refining these rules. A second language learner in this
framework is often compared to the first language learner by their
similarity of errors. (31)
The above explanation does not only highlight a second language learner‟s ability to
acquire proficiency in the target language through vigorous experimentation with the
language, it equally contradicts the earlier impression given by some scholars that
40
making of errors is peculiar to second language learners. First language learners are
sometimes guilty of such aberration. To buttress this assertion, Adejare postulates that
„error is a universal feature of usage and that mother tongue users of a language are also
error prone‟ (58). Brown supports Adejare‟s assertion and defines error as „a noticeable
deviation from adult grammar of a native speaker.‟ (65)
Headbloom, who associates error making with non-native speakers of a language,
argues that native speakers are susceptible to mistakes in performance rather than making
errors in their spoken and written language despite the fact that they have complete
language competence (30). Corder (52) makes a distinction between errors of competence
and errors of performance. He says that errors of competence are the result of the
application of rules by the second language learner which do not correspond to the first
language norms. Errors of performance on the other hand are the result of mistake in
language use. They manifest themselves as repeats, false starts or slip of the tongue.
Yankson defines mistakes as „a type of linguistic deviance that is a slip and the result of
tiredness, emotional stress, memory lapse or pre–occupation with a subject‟. (51) He also
shares Corder‟s view that mistakes could be called performance errors which are
haphazard and unsystematic. They do not reflect the learner‟s competence but errors do.
In an effort to distinguish „mistakes‟ clearly from „errors‟, Brown says that:
…mistakes‟ is a failure to utilize a known system correctly. All people
make mistakes in both native and second language situations [They] are
normally capable of recognizing and correcting such „lapses or mistakes‟
which are not the result of some breakdown imperfection in the process of
producing speech. (65)
41
In other words, mistakes do not reflect a speaker‟s linguistic competence like errors.
Second language learners‟ errors reflect their transitional linguistic competence. The
learners‟ derailment from the structural patterns of the target language are caused by
ignorance, faulty application of rules, formulation of faulty hypothesis,
overgeneralization among others.
Throwing more light on the notion that native speakers are capable of committing
errors of competence despite the fact that the language in question is their first language,
Liski and Puntanen argue that „an error occurs, where the speaker fails to follow the
pattern or manner of speech of educated people in English speaking countries today.‟
(181) This view suggests that the variety of English that should be accepted as the
standard form is the one spoken by the educated native speakers. Therefore, any
deviation from this variety in either written or spoken medium is erroneous, irrespective
of the linguistic background of the user. Liski and Puntanen‟s definition equally implies
that educated people in English speaking countries are immune to errors in the English
language. Some people might question the appropriateness of this definition. This is
because it is generally believed that every speaker of a language has an idiosyncratic way
of using a language, which may likely not follow the standard pattern. On the basis of
these arguments, Oji declares that „…errors are errors, on whose lips or from whose pens
they occur notwithstanding‟… (123)
42
2.4 Categories of Errors
Errors according to Jowit „might be classified according to their possible and
presumed causes; …the frequency of occurrence or the attitude displayed to them by the
language community or different sections of it‟ (59).
Corder (168) believes that satisfactory classification of errors begins with
analysis, which assigns errors to levels of language description, that is, error of
orthography or phonology, or morphology or syntax, of vocabulary and within each level
according to systems, vowel or consonant systems, tense, aspect, number, gender or case.
He further groups errors into three different categories and these are pre–systemic errors,
systemic errors and post-systemic errors.
Pre-systemic errors are made by the second language learner while he is still
groping, trying to understand the system of the language. Systemic errors are those made,
when the second language learner has formed some conception of the language system.
However, in making use of the language in question, the learner uses an inaccurate
hypothesis to express his thoughts. This faulty hypothesis generates error. Post-systemic
errors refer to deviant language forms, which occur where previously systemic errors
have been corrected. At this stage, it is believed that a point has been correctly
understood and performance has been mainly accurate but the learner has temporarily
forgotten what he has learnt and consequently uses a deviant form.
Brown (79) categorizes errors into two, namely covert and overt errors. Convert
errors are grammatically meaningful and semantically comprehensible. They are subtle
and not easily detectable. Overt errors, on the other hand, are patently ungrammatical and
may impede effective communication.
43
Jowit (60) states that errors are of two different types – idiosyncratic and common
errors. He says that common errors might be further subdivided into vulgar and
institutionalized errors.
Idiosyncratic errors are those peculiar to an individual by characterizing his
idiosyncratic dialect. They are the ones most likely to be identified and corrected by
teachers, peers, older children, parents etc. Jowit goes further to explain that idiosyncratic
errors are stigmatized by the educated ones. This is because they impede communication.
They tend to be eliminated at relatively early stages of the learning process, and have less
chance of being fossilized. He gave the following as examples of idiosyncratic errors:
(1) You seem to have taken on a lot of teaching load.
(2) I have no doubt in mine mind that things are going on well with you.
(3) Please progress your help.
Common errors, on the other hand, according to Jowit are those occurring in the
written and spoken English of large numbers of learners. Rarely impeding
communication, they are fossilized errors and their fossilization is reinforced by their
widespread use. They appear to be attributed to the same psycholinguistic causes as
idiosyncratic errors and this suggests that what is now a common error began at some
stage in the past as idiosyncratic error.
Vulgar errors, a subset of common errors, according to Jowit, are those errors that
show ignorance of fairly elementary rules, and typical of them are syntactic,
morphological and spelling errors. He gives the following as examples of vulgar errors.
(1) Wrong use or omission of –s as in verb forms. (she doesn‟t feels sleepy; He need
a book);
44
(2) Category shift (she jealoused me);
(3) Wrong addition of –ed to past tense forms (He hitted me);
(4) Wrong addition of –ly to certain adverbs (He talks fastly);
(5) Cross – association of too and so (His words were too insulting that they reported
him);
(6) Wrong spelling due to false analogy (occasion, dinning).
(7) Wrong spelling due to confusion of / i: / and / i / (Isaac has been leaving at
Kaduna).
In contrast to vulgar errors, institutionalized errors are common errors which are
not identified as errors except by native users or by the most highly educated and
experienced users of English as a second language. Such errors occur with the breaking
of the rules of more advanced syntax. (e.g. the pluralization of uncountable nouns, the
misuse of the past perfect tense) or in phonology, the wrong primary accent or wrong
nuclear accent placement), the non–learning of the proper complementation of verbs as in
the use of for after demand and advocate used as verb, and so on. (See Jowit 61)
Lekki (24) categorizes errors into three types. These are productive, receptive and
pragmatic errors. Productive errors, he explains, occur in the utterances of the second
language learner, receptive ones occur from the listener‟s misunderstanding of the
speaker‟s intention or semantics while pragmatic errors arise from socio-linguistic
context of the second language in use.
Shaughnessy (32) dictates three categories of errors as those that can be detected
and corrected by the user; those that can be detected but cannot be corrected by the user
of the language, and those that can neither be detected nor corrected.
45
2.5 Sources of Error
Errors indicate poor knowledge of the code of a language. Myles observes that
students generally produce texts that contain varying degrees of grammatical and
rhetorical errors when they write a second language. He asserts that the more content-rich
and creative the text, the greater the possibility there is for errors at the morphosyntactic
level depending on the proficiency level of the second language learner. (3) A leaner
gains proficiency in a language if such a leaner is adequately exposed to the rudiments of
the language; and if he makes conscious effort to apply the rudiments correctly. Perhaps,
this informs Jowits declaration that „errors are caused by wrong learning‟. (59) He also
comments on the general causes of users‟ errors in the English language thus;
... we might attribute some errors to mother tongue transfer (I hear the
smell of gas) or transfer from pidgin (I for tell you that…) others to false
hypothezination or overgeneralization (I am go) or the articulation of –b in
words ending in –mb, others to failure to learn the special phonic or
syntactic features of certain words (she deals on cloth). (59)
Carson (195), Connor and Kaplan (45), Kutz, Groden and Zamel (249 – 264), and
Raimes (439 – 468), elaborate further on the general causes of errors. They explain that
errors occur in language usage because of the following reasons:
(a) learners trying to translate from the first language;
(b) lack of familiarity with new rhetorical structures and the organization of ideas;
(c) trying out what they assume is a legitimate structure of the target language which
may be hindered by insufficient knowledge of correct usage;
46
(d) native language interference from developmental stage of interlanguage or from
non standard elements in spoken dialects;
(e) overgeneralization of the rules for stylistics features when acquiring new
discourse structures; and
(f) learners are often unsure of what they want to express.
Taylor (56) identifies six major sources of grammatical errors. He calls them
immediate cause of deviance. They are:
(a) General muscular activities;
(b) L1 Habits;
(c) Psychological states;
(d) Teaching methods;
(e) Style of course materials;
(f) Introduction of written language.
Taylor‟s view of the sources of error is quite elaborate. It embraces psychological,
physiological, linguistic and pedagogical issues. However, he says that all the factors
need not be present for errors to occur in language learning.
Myles (3) identifies both social and cognitive factors as sources of errors in
second language learning. He explains that learners in the second language may continue
to exhibit errors in their writing for the following social reasons:
(a) negative attitude towards the target language;
(b) continued lack of progress in the second language;
(c) a wide social and psychological distance between them and the target culture; and
47
(d) lack of integrative and instrument motivation for learning. He also states that
learners equally exhibit errors for these cognitive reasons:
a. difficulty in acquiring academic and discourse style;
b. lack of coherence in organizing information both at the sentence and text
level;
c. the complex process of writing in a second language;
d. language transfer due to learners‟ lack of the necessary information in the
second language or the attentional capacity to activate the appropriate
second language routine.
Bamgbose, like Taylor and Myles, acknowledges the fact that a second language
learner of English is confronted with a lot of problems. He explains that:
… there are difficulties inherent in the language itself, such as irregular
patterns. The plural of „man‟ is „men‟ but the plural of „pan‟ is not „pen‟;
there is the difficulty of inadequate exposure to good models, and above
all, the problem of bad teaching…; the interference of the first language
poses the greatest difficulty for learners of a second language. (17)
The above submission exposes interlingual and intralingual problems as the key
sources of errors in second language learning. Bamgbose believes that interlingual or
interference problem is more problematic. Interference problem, according to
Headbloom, is „the influence of learner‟s previous language on his present [language].
Bamgbose points out that interference of the first language with the target language may
be at phonological, grammatical, or lexical levels. The grammatical interference involves
48
lack of comparative grammars of English and the first language. Another is lack of
correspondence between systems (pronoun, tense, concord) etc.
Eyisi agrees that the interference of the first language with the second language is
a factor capable of generating errors. She laments that:
Unfortunately in a second language situation such as the status of English
in Nigeria, the errors become multifarious because students study the
target language against the background of their mother tongue in which
they have attained a reasonable degree of competence (xii).
Headbloom, on the other hand, states that many proponents of error analysis argue
that majority of language errors occur intralinguall. (See Ubahakwe 31). Lott (63) states
that intralingual problems are created by the complexities and irregular forms inherent in
the target language. A learner in the bid to acquire the new language could produce
grammatical errors by faulty application of rules, improper learning and over-
generalization among others. Headbloom (31) advances this argument and explains that a
„learner is not a passive recipient of a language, but rather that he is constantly testing the
new language, making rules and then altering and refining these rules. In the process of
this, he is bound to commit errors. Such errors are inherent within the language system
and not native language induced. He observes that intralingual errors affect both native
and non-native learners.
Bamgbose also gives a more elaborate explanation on intralingual problems as
sources of errors. He says that there are irregular forms in the grammatical pattern of the
English language. Irregular forms in the English language are evident in the formation of
nouns, verbs, aspects, degree of comparison etc. One discovers that a second language
49
learner who comes to believe that the plural of „chief‟ is „chiefs‟ will definitely be
confused to hear again that the plural of „thief‟ is „thieves‟, or the plural of „ox‟ is „oxen‟.
The same is applicable to one who is made to believe that the superlative of „good‟ is
„best‟ such a person will find it contradictory to realize that the superlative of „big‟ is
„biggest‟. Again, when he knows that the comparative of „beautiful‟ is „more beautiful‟,
he tends to be confused that the comparative of „little‟ is „less‟ instead of „more little‟.
Omojubola (70) commenting on the irregular forms inherent in the grammatical pattern
of English says that at times, the learner is ignorant of rule restrictions and may not
remember that for rules, there are several exceptions. In some cases, there is incomplete
application of rules and this could result in erroneous usage. Faulty categorization of the
lexis and structure of English may make this learner commit grammatical errors. Also an
obsession to eliminate grammatical errors in speech and writing may ironically produce
errors because it could result in what may be termed „hyper correction‟. Headbloom (38)
concludes that given the intralingual complexities of the English language; it is highly
impossible for the leaner and user not to be caught in the maze of grammatical errors.
Apart from interlingual and intralingual problems as sources of errors, Bamgbose
(40) and Eyisi (7) contend that poor teaching engenders grammatical error. They point
out that most teachers of English are also second language learners. They, as a result,
might not have achieved the necessary proficiency and are therefore, prone to errors. In a
situation like this, there is bound to be negative transference to the learners. Folarin adds
that „Learners‟ errors become fossilized and entrenched if the teacher shares the same
error with his students‟ (See Eyisi 7). Eyisi (7) says that this lapse is called „pedagogical
ineptitude‟. She stresses that „the teacher has to be able to serve at least as a passable
50
model‟ if he is to tackle effectively problems of grammatical errors. Odlin explains that
fossilized errors are problematic because the errors become internalized like bad habits in
a learner‟s repertoire, and they occur despite remediation and correction (1 – 2). Jowit
(59) describes fossilization as a situation in which a learner‟s interlanguage errors
become permanent and certain registers remain static. Interlanguage is all the knowledge
an L2 learner has accepted and internalized about the target language, both valid and
erroneous (Ubahakwe 23).
Labov believes that peer group influence could engender error in language
learning and usage. He comments:
… in language learning and usage, the peer group plays an important role
and if the peer group‟s language is deficient, a member of the group would
all the same still use it (64).
In further explanation, he states that from infancy to puberty, children‟s language is
restructured to fit the rule used by their peer group. It is certainly a more powerful
influence than the family. Labov‟s observation highlights the role of peer group in the
speech habit of adolescents. An adolescent‟s peers‟ opinions matter very much to him.
Therefore, he must speak the way they do if he is to be accepted in their group, the
deviance of his language from the acceptable standard notwithstanding.
Meare (122) focuses on improper use of vocabulary as “source of error”. He states
that vocabulary is a neglected aspect of language learning. This neglect, he explains,
gives rise to two major errors in the writing of the users of English as a second language.
These are errors by contextual meaning and spelling errors. Baugh and Cable (36)
maintain that English spelling is as difficult as it is erratic, not only for second language
51
learners but also for those whose native language it is. They draw attention to the
inconsistency of English spelling and say that one cannot tell how to spell an English
word by its pronunciation and how to pronounce it by its spelling. Okoh (15) agrees with
Baugh and Cables and says that it is clear that pronunciation is quite unreliable as a clue
to spelling and vice versa. They say that spelling errors occur more in writing then in
speech. Obemata (31) and Robins (63) believe that mother tongue interference is a major
contributor to spelling errors. Another source of spelling errors according to Norish (281)
is creativity and the spirit of adventure in students. This is a situation where rules are
misplaced to produce deviant forms. He also says that homophones and homonyms are
sources of spelling errors because students often confuse one spelling with another. Jowit
and Nnamonu (38) illustrate this with words like advice and advise; border and boarder;
cease and seize; match and March, stationery and stationary and a host of others. Spelling
errors may also occur when the spelling symbols fail to rhyme with the sounds of the
words. Examples of such words are choir, massacre, write, bomb, maneuver, lieutenant,
bizarre etc (see Otagburuagu 127).
Yakubu (108) says that joining and splitting of words could produce errors in
students‟ writing. He explains that joining and splitting of words are important features of
writing for an effective communication. This is because they contribute to the meaning of
words as well as flow of ideas. He identifies some errors that arise from joining and
splitting of words as: (a) single words that are separated by some users of English.
Examples of such words are: „moreso‟, „whenever‟, „indeed‟, „handbag‟ „classroom‟; etc
(b) some separated words that are joined by some users of English. Such expressions are:
„in fact‟, „in order to‟, „in addition to‟, „carry over‟, medium wave‟, „in front of‟ etc.
52
Scheider and McCoy (3) point out omission of words in sentences as sources of
errors. They explain that learners of English as a second language omit constituents of the
language for a variety of reasons. One of these reasons is the dropping of the determiners,
which may be caused by non-existence of determiner system in the first language of the
learner. They equally noted that obligatory word classes like prepositions, verbs, relative
pronouns are sometimes erroneously omitted in sentences. Eyisi (XIII) and Ozioko added
to the list. They state that the following can also cause grammatical errors. Omission or
wrong use of adjectives, adverbs, idiomatic expressions, punctuations, especially the
comma and semicolon, misconceptions, wrong use of concord, pronoun agreements,
making bare infinitive have „to‟ and vice versa, use of non-standard English, L2 learners
forcing English into the mould of their native languages, poor changing of direct to
indirect speech and spoiling of fixed expressions, misuse of the English articles etc.
Ozioko also (23) observes that errors of concord and tense are quite common on
the pages of Nigerian newspapers. She says that error of concord is particularly
noticeable where the subject is widely separated from the verb. Oluikpe (86) shares
Ozioko‟s view by saying that concord incongruity is the most common grammatical error
that mars one‟s effort in writing effectively. He stresses that mistakes in agreement are
caused by inconsistency in the use of:
(a) number, as (i) it involves: subject and verb of a sentence;
(ii) pronoun and its antecedent;
(b) persons, in terms of: (i) pronoun and its antecedent;
(ii) shifts from one person to another;
(c) gender, as it relates to pronoun and its antecedent;
53
(d) tense, as it involves shifts from one tense to the other;
(e) voice, as it applies to shifts from active to passive voice.
Oluikpe concludes by saying that since concord is essential in producing standard
English sentences, it is important that one should learn how to use number, person,
gender, tense and voice consistently. His opinion highlights the fact that a well-
constructed sentence must obey the rules of concord.
Onuigbo (96) explains that errors of grammatical concord can stem from inherent
irregular patterns in the grammar of the English language. He makes special reference to
nouns and observes that some language users find it difficult to associate the irregular
nouns with the appropriate verb forms. Apart from the problem with the irregular nouns,
greater difficulties may be experienced with the nouns that end in plural markers even
when they are used as singular nouns. He explains that such words as alms, gallows,
headquarters, means, will always select a singular verb even though they end apparently
in plural markers. The above observation calls for adequate attention for the teaching of
concord to students. Special attention should be paid to irregular nouns and their
matching verbs.
Eka (181) also reflects on the importance of concord in the syntax of English. He
says that concord in English is one of the structural problems which deserves adequate
attention for „proper functioning of the language‟. He mentions parallelism, modification
and fragmentation as other structural problems which deserve equal attention as concord.
He draws analogy with machine operation and says that the above grammar related-issues
are like „nuts‟ and „bolts‟ which deserve to be fitted properly for an efficient operation of
a machine (language). In line with this, Ozioko argues that if conscious efforts are made
54
in producing interesting stores, the same should be expended in the correct use of the
language, especially, those aspects of grammar that appear minor‟ (23).
Baldah observes that wrong use of tenses, spelling, concord and prepositions are
common errors whose persistent difficulty has been a source of serious concern to
language experts. He laments that „the language efficacy of the products of our education
is so weak that one is bound to question the effectiveness of our English language
teaching materials and strategies (1). He says that grammatical and concord errors are
common in books, newspapers, magazines, on the radio and television etc. He suggests
that it is only through constant exposure to good reading material and systematic teaching
that learners of English as a second language become aware of „the many conspicuous
solecisms‟ (1).
55
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCEDURE
Introduction
The methodology adopted to achieve the objectives of the study is discussed in
this chapter. The discussion is done under the following sub-headings.
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Area of Study
3.3 Population of the Study
3.4 Sampling Technique
3.5 Research Instrument
3.6 Method of Data Analysis
3.1 Research Design
Research design is the plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived to
obtain answers to research questions and to control variance (Kelinger 300). For the
purpose of this study, the researcher chose a sample survey research design.
Survey research is „a form of descriptive research that is aimed at collecting large
and small samples from the populations in order to examine the distribution, incidence
and interaction of educational and sociological phenomena (Denga and Ali 208). Survey
research was therefore, suitable in this context because the data for the study was
collected and analysed from a substantial representative of the entire population of the
study, five out of ten secondary schools in Onitsha North Local Government Area of
56
Anambra State. The result of the study would be generalized to represent the performance
of the entire population.
The researcher believed that since the subjects of the study were drawn from fifty
percent of the entire sample population, their (the subjects‟) performance would give an
insight into the general performance of the Senior Secondary 3 School students of the
area in the English concord.
3.2 Area of Study
Onitsha urban is made up of two Local Government Areas, Onitsha North Local
Government Area and Onitsha South Local Government Area respectively. The choice of
the former as the area of the study stems from the fact that the majority of the public
secondary schools in Onitsha urban are cited in this area. The schools are densely
populated and each of them has at least, eight graduate teachers of English language. The
assumption, therefore, is that the senior students in these schools have been adequately
exposed to the rudiments of the English grammar, with special reference to concord in
the English language.
The students also come from parents/guardians of different social strata – high,
middle and low income earners. As such, their academic performance is representative of
what is obtainable in most urban areas in Nigeria.
Finally, English is a second language spoken in the Local Government by the
majority of the students. Consequently, the students are faced with the interlingual and
intralingual challenges of learning English as a second language.
57
3.3 Population of the Study
The sample population of the study comprised five hundred SS3 students of five
secondary schools in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State. These
schools were randomly selected from ten senior secondary schools in the Area. The tools
used were further stratified in the context of their unique status thus: boys, girls and co-
institutions. Hundred students were selected from each of the schools. The schools used
as samples were:
1. St. Charles‟ Secondary School, Onitsha (Boys)
2. St. Charles‟ Special Science School, Onitsha (Boys)
3. Ado Girls‟ Secondary School, Onitsha
4. Inland Girls‟ Secondary School, Onitsha
5. Prince Memorial High School, Onitsha (Boys and Girls)
The choice of the population of the study was deemed appropriate because the
students were at the final stage of secondary education, and consequently, preparing for
Senior School Certificate Examination. A success in English remains a prerequisite for
admission into any course of study in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Therefore, a sound
knowledge of the rules of concord would make students improve on their English
language performance. This would invariably lead to success in English as well as other
subjects taught through the medium of the English language.
3.4 Sampling Technique
Simple random sampling was used to get the population of the study. Each of the
five schools used had at least a stream of five physical classes of SS3 students. Each of
58
the classes had a nominal roll of not less than fifty students. For fair distribution of the
subjects of the study, fifteen to twenty students were selected from every class of SS3 in
each school. Through this way, a hundred SS3 students were selected from every school
used for the study. Finally, a total of five hundred students from the five different schools
were used for the investigation. They were tested on different types of concord.
3.5 Research Instrument
The instrument used in this study was multiple objective test. A total of 100 test
items were administered on the population. The test was conducted by the researcher
under examination conditions. It lasted for one hour in each case.
The need to test competence informed our choice of the testing instrument.
Through objective testing strategy, we were able to cover different types of concord.
Testing instrument was made in such a manner that the testees were pinned down to one
correct answer for each item of the test.
The multiple choice objective testing is considered suitable in most language
studies, since generally, each question tests a particular point at a time and measures the
learner‟s specific knowledge of the aspect of the language that is being studied.
Therefore, the answers to the multiple objective test items adopted in this study would
give a reliable information of the students‟ knowledge of concord in the English
language.
59
3.6 Method of Data Analysis
To achieve the objective of the study, a total of hundred test items were
administered to 500 subjects. The arithmetic mean was used to determine the actual
performance of all the groups. Since the test on hand was of competence, the researcher
expected on ideal situation whereby every member of the population would score the
entire items of the test. However, where this was not possible, she had fixed a
competence mean of 75 and above, which could make a claim of competence about the
group. Thus, the farther away the group‟s mean was from the standard mean, the poorer
their performance and the nearer their average score was to the target mean (75), the
fairer their performance.
The arithmetic mean was employed in the analysis because „the mean tells at a
glance the level of achievement of the average member of a group.‟ (Nwana 260)
Simple percentage was also used to discover the subjects‟ overall performance on
the different types of concord that were tested.
60
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION, DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
In this chapter, the researcher presents and analyses the subjects‟ concord errors
in English. Their response to 100 objective questions set on the types of concord under
investigation is used for the analysis. Samples of the subjects‟ errors are presented and
discussed. Their overall performance and their competence on each type of concord are
also analysed. The information obtained is presented below.
4.1 Analysis of Sampled Questions
Table 1: Question No. 5
Her remains (a. was b. were c. has been) buried in the church yard.
St. Charles Special
Science School
(SCSS)
St. Charles
College
(SCC)
Inland
Girls
Ado Girls‟
Secondary
School
Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
22% 50% 12% 22% 33% 27%
The above table shows that 73% of the students failed the number by choosing a wrong
verb, „was‟ or „has been‟. Although the noun, „remains‟ is semantically singular, since it
refers to the dead body of one person, it always goes with a plural verb. Consequently,
the correct verb to co-occur with the subject, „remains‟ is the verb, „were‟. The
acceptable sentence is:
Her remains were buried in the church yard.
61
Table 2: Question 7
You, Obinna (am, are, is) in charge of this house.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
22% 23% 50% 34% 38% 33%
The above table shows that 67% of the students failed the question by choosing the verb
„is‟. The correct form of the verb to be used is „are‟. The rule of concord demands that the
verb should agree with the second person pronoun, „you‟. The appositive word, „Obinna‟
is merely for emphasis.
Table 3: Question 27
What you are (do, does, doing) not matter.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls‟
Ado Girls‟ Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
51% 59% 54% 58% 46% 54%
The above table shows that 46% of the students failed the question by selecting the verb
(s) „do‟,/‟doing‟. The right verb that matches the subject is „does‟. The rule is that if a
clause serves as a subject, it selects a singular verb unless it is a relative nominal clause,
which could select either a singular or plural verb, depending on the context. The
acceptable sentence is:
What you are does not matter.
62
Table 4: Question 9
He who works hard at his studies (make, makes, are making) good grades.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls‟
Ado Girls‟ Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
58% 44% 33% 38% 30% 41%
59% of the population failed the question. They selected either „make‟ or „making‟ as the
answer to the question. The non-abberent use requires the verb, „makes‟, to correctly fill
the gap.
The nominal relative clause that functions as the subject of the sentence is
singular and should select a singular verb. The grammatical sentence is:
He who works hard at his studies makes good grades.
Table 5: Question 11
The news that reached us shortly after the accident (was, were, were being) shocking.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls‟
Ado Girls‟ Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
66% 66% 71% 60% 61% 64%
The above table shows that 36% of the entire students failed the above question. They
chose „were‟ instead of „was‟, which is the verb that agrees with the subject, „news‟. The
noun, „news‟ seems plural morphologically but is semantically singular and must select a
63
singular verb. Other examples of such nouns are linguistics, mathematics, hypothesis,
thesis, stimulus, syllabus etc. The acceptable grammatical sentence is:
The news that reached us shortly after the accident was shocking.
Table 6: Question 17
The outstanding arrears of salaries (was, were, has been) paid last, month.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
17% 13% 11% 18% 06% 15%
The above table shows that 85% of the entire students failed the question by filling the
gap with a singular verb „was‟. The headword, „arrears‟ (subject of the sentence) always
occurs in plural form and must select a plural verb. Examples of other nouns among this
group are funds, amends, minutes, particulars etc. The grammatical sentence is:
The outstanding arrears of salaries were paid last month.
Table 7: Question 20
My thanks (go, goes) to my parents.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
15% 10% 8% 11% 10% 11%
64
The above table shows that 89% of the students got the answer wrong. They chose „goes‟
as the verbal element of the sentence. Their answer is erroneous because of concord
incongruity between „thanks‟ and „goes‟. The rule of subject/verb agreement requires that
if the subject contains a plural feature, the verb must have the same feature and vice
versa. The subject, „thanks‟ is plural and must agree with the plural verb „go‟.
My thanks go to my parents is the acceptable expression.
Table 8: Question 29
The chairman and secretary of the association (is, are, been) here.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
10% 15% 32% 24% 20% 20%
The above table shows that 80% of the entire students failed the question. They chose
„are‟ as the matching verb for the subject, “the chairman and secretary”. The testees are
ignorant of the exceptional rule of concord of coordinate subjects. Though it is known
that when two subjects are joined together by a coordinating conjunction, the verb that
follows is generally indicative of plural, in this case, the two subjects refer to the same
person, and therefore, must accept a singular verb.
The chairman and secretary is here; is the acceptable sentence.
65
Table 9: Question 32
I wish to dedicate this book to the poor and needy whose anguish (ensure, ensures) my
continuing protest.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
11% 44% 12% 12% 10% 18%
82% of the students failed the above number. They filled the gap with ensures. The
correct verb that agrees with the subject of the sentence, „The poor and needy‟ is ensure.
This is because normalized adjectives obligatorily select plural verbs. The definite article,
as a rule, precedes such adjectives. Secondly, though the poor and needy have a singular
reference, the above rule supersedes it. The non-aberrent sentence is:
I wish to dedicate this book to the poor and needy whose anguish ensure my
continuing protest.
Table 10: Question 38
Twenty thousand naira (has, have, were) been spent only on clothes.
SCSS SCC Ado Girls Prince Memorial High
School
Inland
Girls
Overall
%
52% 44% 41% 46% 21% 41%
The above table shows that 59% of the students failed the question. They chose either
„have‟ or „were‟ as the correct form of the verb to be used. The subject, „twenty thousand
66
naira‟ is singular and requires a singular verb. The students are ignorant of the fact that
when a phrase indicates a sum or a unit, a singular verb is always used. The correct
sentence is:
Twenty thousand naira has been spent only on clothes.
Table 11: Question No. 40
Every student and every lecturer (is, are, am) expected at the pavilion.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
50% 20% 36% 33% 25% 33%
67% of the students failed the question. They selected „are‟ as the verbal element of the
sentence. The rule of concord is that when the indefinite determines, „every‟ and „each‟
introduce nouns, such nouns select the singular verb forms even if the nouns are joined
by conjunctions.
Their selection of a singular verb is justified by the fact that they single out
individual persons or things from a group of individuals or things. The grammatical
sentence is:
Every student and every lecturer is expected at the pavilion.
67
Table 12: Question No. 42
Even the waste matter from our cows (is, are, been) useful.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
35% 13% 33% 16% 30% 25%
75% of the entire students failed the above number. They chose either „are‟ or „been‟ as
the correct verb(s) that matched the subject. The subject of the sentence is the „waste
matter‟ (the headword) and not cows. It has a singular feature and must select a singular
verb. It has been observed that students often get confused on the verb to select for the
subject when the headword in the subject operates far away from the verb. The correct
sentence reads:
Even the waste matter from our cows is useful.
Table 13: Question No. 44
Neither the lecturer nor the students (were, was) dismissed.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
44% 36% 54% 50% 57% 48%
52% of the subjects selected „was‟ as the correct verb for the subject. The correct form of
the verb to be used is „were‟. The linguistic convention is that if the nouns in the
compound subject are joined by the correlatives – or, either… or, neither … nor, not
68
only… but; the verb has to agree with the second of the subject. In other words, the law
of proximity over-rules here. In the above sentence, the second of the subject is in plural
form and must select a plural verb. The acceptable version of the sentence is:
Neither the lecturer nor the students were dismissed.
Table 14: Question 51
The secretary along with his chairman (were, was) absent.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
76% 50% 22% 40% 36% 45%
The above number was answered wrongly by 55% of the entire students. They chose
„were‟ instead of „was‟ as the correct verb to fill the gap. The rule of concord is that
whenever the correlative conjunction such as along with is used to join subjects, the verb
will agree with the first of the subject. Other correlative conjunctions that are guided by
the rule are: as well as, together with, in addition to, in collaboration with, no less than
etc. The grammatical sentence is therefore;
The secretary along with his chairmen was absent.
69
Table 15: Question No. 60
You should give __________ another chance.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
10% 54% 50% 51% 44% 42%
The students were given the above as an open-ended question. They were asked to fill the
gap with a reflexive pronoun that matched the subject. 58% of the students were unable
to choose the appropriate pronoun. In adherence to the rule of subject/object concord, the
correct reflexive pronoun (the object) to match the second person pronoun „you‟, is
yourself. The acceptable sentence is.
You should give yourself another chance.
The rule of subject/object concord is that in any expression where the object element is a
reflexive pronoun, there is usually a concord of person, number and gender between it
and the subject.
Table 16: Question 86
He bought a dress for his fiancé.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
23% 30% 40% 33% 41% 33%
70
The above table shows that 67% of the students were unable to dictate the error in the
sentence. They were asked to write the correct form of the sentence. The expression is
wrong because there is no harmony between the subject, „He‟ (a masculine gender) and
the object, „his fiancé‟ (a reference to a male suitor). The non-aberrant sentence is:
He bought a dress for his fiancée.
Table 17: Question 85
Mary is the hero of the novel.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
50% 49% 40% 19% 15% 35%
65% of the students were unable to correct the above sentence. There is no agreement
between the subject, „Mary‟ and its complement, „the hero‟. The feminine subject of the
verb, „Mary‟ must select a feminine complement. The correct sentence is:
Mary is the heroine of the novel.
Table 18: Question 91
We came, we saw, we conquer.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
40% 31% 32% 40% 41% 38%
71
The above table shows that 62% of the students failed the question. The concord
incongruity arose from a shift in the construction of the last clause of the sentence. The
verbs in the first two clauses of the sentence are in the past, and the sentence, therefore,
requires a corresponding past form of the verb in the third clause for it to be acceptable.
In other words, there is no consistency in the time reference of the clauses.
The correct sentence is:
We came, we saw, we conquered.
Table 19: Question 94
Monday bought a wrist watch and it was stolen by Uche.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
23% 25% 20% 29% 29% 25%
The above table shows that 75% of the students were unable to correct the wrong
sentence. The sentence is marred by the inconsistency in the structure of the clauses. The
first clause of the sentence is an active construction and needs a corresponding active
voice in the second clause. The correct sentence is:
Monday bought a wrist watch and Uche stole it.
72
Table 20: Question 98
When one is confronted with a problem he prays.
SCSS SCC Inland
Girls
Ado Girls Prince Memorial
High School
Overall
%
20% 17% 16% 27% 12% 18%
82% of the students accepted the sentence as a correct one. The sentence is incorrect
because there is no harmony between the pronoun and its antecedent. The rule of concord
is that when the pronoun, „one‟, features as the antecedent, the next pronoun (referring to
it) is „one‟. The acceptable sentence is:
When one is confronted with a problem, one prays.
4.2 Statistical Analysis of the Subjects’ Overall Competence on Concord in
English
St. Charles Special
Science School
(SCSS)
St. Charles
Secondary
School
Inland
Girls‟
Sec.
School
Prince
Memorial
High School
Ado Girls‟
Secondary
School
Overall
Mean
57.7 53.2 42 50 40.1 48.6
The above table shows that the entire population‟s performance on concord in the
English language is not impressive. Their overall mean, 48.6 is less than the target mean
of 75 and above which the researcher sets out as an indication of the mastery of the rules
73
of concord. The implication of the result is that the students have not gained proficiency
in this aspect of the English grammar.
4.3 The Subjects’ Competence on Different types of Concord
The entire subjects‟ competence on the different types of concord under
investigation are analysed below.
4.3.1 Subject-Verb Agreement
St. Charles
Special Science
School
St. Charles
Secondary
School
Inland
Girls‟
Sec.
School
Ado
Girls‟
Sec. School
Prince
Memorial
High
School
Overall
Mean
54 48.1 38 47 44 46.2
The above table shows the subjects‟ overall performance on subject-verb
agreement. Their competence mean is 46.2. In contrast with the target mean of 75 and
above, mapped out as an indication of the subjects‟ mastery of the rules of concord, their
performance is poor and therefore calls for improvement.
It is discovered that the students have no problems in matching regular nouns with
either singular or plural verbs as the context demands. Their challenges lie with irregular
nouns, especially those that have the morphological shape of plural nouns but are singular
semantically. Examples of such nouns are news, measles, thesis etc; or those that are
74
always plural but are suggestive of singular meaning such as remains, police, arrears,
minutes etc.
The students‟ response to some of the numbers shows that they see „–s‟
morpheme as an indication of plurality in all cases. To them, both plural nouns and plural
verbs take „– s‟ morpheme. Thus, we have erroneous expressions like:
My thanks goes to my parents.
Make sure you submits your script after marking.
The students also experience difficulties with the selection of the appropriate
verbs to agree with the subjects of sentences, if such subjects are phrases and clauses.
The errors they commit here stem from the students‟ inability to identity the headwords
in the phrases. They are also ignorant of the fact that clauses that function as subjects
generally select singular verbs, with the exception of nominal relative clauses which
select either singular or plural verb, depending on the context of the sentence.
Consequently, we have ungrammatical expressions like:
Even the waste matter from our cows are useful.
Exchanging gifts between friends are always encouraging.
The news that reached us shortly after the accidents were shocking.
The verbs to agree with the subjects of the above sentences are „is‟ and „was‟
respectively.
The above findings confirm Oluikpe‟s observation. (110) He notes that the
agreement of subject and verb in English forms a major learning problem. One of the
reasons for this includes what he terms „the illogical premise‟ upon which basis the
English (–s) morpheme operates for the singular noun and a singular verb. Second
75
language learners, he observes, do not fully appreciate why on one hand, an apparently
plural (–s) morpheme is used for a plural noun, when on the other hand, the same
morpheme is to signify singularity in verbs. Other problems stem from the modified verb
of which the learner does not know whether the verb or the modifier should carry the
agreement rule. Moreso, the exception rules of concord have merely heightened the
learners‟ problems instead of reducing them. This happens when a learner who has
managed to learn that two singular nouns when conjoined select a plural verb, turns
around to be confronted with some cases where this rule is not always true if the sense of
the sentence dictates otherwise. Oluikpe concludes that all these happen because there is
no grammatical agreement between the subject and the verb in Igbo.
Opata (66) intimates that his interaction with students on an investigation he
carries out reveals that one of the causes of concord errors is wrong teaching at secondary
school level. Some of the students tell him that the presence of an „s‟ at the end of a word
is always an indication of plurality, irrespective of the word class. The students are
unaware that a singular verb always ends with the morpheme (–s) and must co-occur with
a singular subject and not a plural one. Consequently, the students make ungrammatical
utterances like:
* They does their assignment.
* We goes to work.
The above findings demand that a serious attention should be given to the
teaching of subject/verb concord. Other intricacies of English grammar caused by the
irregular forms in the language need to be given special attention.
76
4.3.2 Concord with the Correlatives
St. Charles
Special Science
School, Onitsha
St. Charles
Secondary
School,
Onitsha
Inland
Girls‟ Sec.
School
Onitsha
Ado
Girls‟
Sec. School
Onitsha
Prince
Memorial
High Sch.
Onitsha
Overall
Mean
52 48 41 47 46 47
A study of the preceding table shows that the subjects have not mastered the rules
of concord with the correlatives. Their grand mean performance is 47. The students seem
confused with the contradictory rules of concord with the correlatives. This is because the
use of some of the correlatives demands that the verb should agree with the first of the
subject while on the other hand, another set of the correlatives makes the verbs agree with
the second of the subject. The maze of the confusion could be cleared in the minds of the
learners if they are drilled on the rules of concord with the correlatives. The main cause
of errors of concord with the correlatives is intralingual.
4.3.3 Subject/Complement Concord
St. Charles
Special Science
School
St. Charles
Secondary
School
Inland
Girls‟
Sec.
School
Ado
Girls‟
Sec. School
Prince
Memorial
High
School
Overall
Mean
61.3 42 53 50 50.2 51.3
77
The above table shows that 51.3 is the overall mean performance of the students.
The students are yet to have a complete mastery of the rules of subject/complement
concord. They have not acquainted themselves with gender distinction in English.
Consequently, a good number of them were unable to dictate the errors in the following
sentences:
She is a porter.
Mary is the hero of the novel.
Okafor is a seamstress.
However, the students are conversant with the rule of subject complement
concord in terms of number. They were able to match plural subjects with plural
complements and singular subjects with singular complements. They easily dictated
the errors in the following sentences and corrected them.
Dr. and Mrs. Okoye are my sponsor.
The ladies in black suits are our aunt.
4.3.4 The Concord of Subject and Object
St. Charles
Special Science
School
St. Charles
Secondary
School
Inland
Girls‟
Sec.
School
Ado
Girls‟
Sec. School
Prince
Memorial
High
School
Overall
Mean
40 40 38 36 33 38
78
The students overall performance mean of 38 in this aspect of concord in English
is the farthest from the target mean of 75. The analysis shows that some of the students
are yet to be conversant with the choice of pronouns to go with certain subjects which
serve as their antecedents. Their erroneous response to some of the questions on
subject/object agreement showed that distinguishing between a masculine and feminine
reflexive pronouns posed a challenge to them.
The students failure to choose the appropriate reflexive pronouns as the suitable
objects to the subjects of the verbs is attributable to mother tongue transfer; that is, from
the students‟ first language (Igbo) to their second language (English). There is no gender
distinction in Igbo language. Consequently, they wrote unacceptable utterances like:
He injured herself in the leg.
The dog fed himself yesterday.
Instead of:
He injured himself yesterday.
The dog fed itself yesterday.
It was also noticed that some of the reflexive pronouns were wrongly spelt or
written.
themselves was written as theirselves
herself was written as hersself
himself was written as hisself
itself was written as its‟ self
myself was written as my self/mineself
79
4.3.5 Pronoun/Antecedent Concord
St. Charles
Special Science
School
St. Charles
Secondary
School
Inland
Girls‟
Sec.
School
Ado
Girls‟
Sec. School
Prince
Memorial
High
School
Overall
Mean
60 58.3 44.4 71 62 59.1
The students overall performance, a mean of 59.1 in the pronoun- antecedent concord is
the nearest to the target mean which is 75. This is an indication that an appreciable
number of the students have internalized the rules of Pronoun/Antecedent Concord.
However, some of the students failed the questions set on this aspect of concord because
they were unable to make gender distinctions in their selection of pronouns to suit the
subjects (the antecedents) they replace. In other words, they failed to observe the rule of
pronoun- antecedent concord which states that a pronoun replacing a noun must be
masculine if the noun is masculine, feminine if the noun is feminine and neuter if the
noun is neuter. Hence, we have unacceptable sentences like
The man enjoyed her stay at Abuja.
He came back to the class to search for her supervisor.
80
4.3.6 Shift in Construction
St. Charles
Special Science
School
St. Charles
Secondary
School
Inland
Girls‟
Sec.
School
Ado
Girls‟
Sec. School
Prince Memorial
High
School
Overall
Mean
26 12 14 08 11 14.2
The subjects‟ performances on questions that deal with shift in construction of the
elements/units of sentences are analysed above. The rule of concord in English states that
sentences must be the same in person, number, gender, voice and tense. If shifts occur in
any of these, the result is usually an awkward, inconsistent and ungrammatical structure.
The result of the analysis, a mean of 14.2 shows that most of the testees are
ignorant of the above rule. Hence, they are unable to dictate and correct the anomaly in
structures like:
The principal caught him in the act, interrogated him, found him guilty and he
was expelled. (Shift in voice)
We came, we saw, we conquer. (Shift in tense)
Please, leave him to enjoy herself (Shift in gender)
These ladies are actress (Shift in number)
The correct forms of the above sentences are:
The Principal caught him in the act, interrogated him, and expelled him.
We came, we saw, we conquered.
Please leave him to enjoy himself.
These ladies are actresses.
81
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, SUGGESTION AND CONCLUSION
The analysis in chapter 4 revealed that mastering the rules of concord in English
poses a great challenge to final year students of the Senior Secondary Schools in Onitsha
North Local Government Area of Anambra State. Arnold (59) believes that errors of
concord are intralingual and that such errors occur because the learners have not
internalized the rules guiding the agreement of words in a sentence. He equally adds that
grammatical errors could also be caused by overgeneralization of rules. Adejeare (58)
argues that error is a universal feature of any usage and that mother tongue users of a
language are also error prone. Bamgbose (17) shares Arnolds and Adejeare‟s opinion but
states that much of the grammatical errors committed by learners of English as a second
language come from intralingual problems. Ozioko (61) states that errors could also be
caused by carelessness and thoughtlessness. Whatever is the case, linguistic errors are a
welcome development because they portray a learner‟s competence at a particular stage
of learning process and could be remedied by learning the correct forms.
The finding of our research is an evidence that English language learnt up to the
end of the secondary school does not adequately prepare students for the demands of
tertiary education. Anasiudu‟s (125) and Ofuokwu‟s (77) investigations into the quality
of undergraduate and graduate English of the university of Nigeria, Nsukka and
Ahamadu Bello University, Zaria confirm the above assertion. Their findings portray
concord errors as the commonest grammatical errors committed by the students. This is a
regular report made by researchers on error analysis in English. Suffice it to say that
students‟ development of communicative skills in English depends solely on their
82
mastery of word relations in English. In other words, the mastery of the rules of concord
in English as well as the general principles that guide the co-occurrence of certain
linguistic elements for an acceptable linear sequence, is crucial for correct English usage.
To help students achieve the desired competence, all the users of English must be
fully in the pursuit. Users here refer to teachers, learners, curriculum designers and
coordinators of education and parents.
The role of secondary school teachers in laying a strong foundation for the
acquisition of proficiency in English cannot be undermined. There must be a deliberate
effort to improve on the standard of teachers of English language. They should be sent for
regular in-service training, seminars and conferences. The syllabai for such programmes
must be structured in such a way that all the aspects of the language which pose great
difficulty to students be given detailed attention. The training will keep the teachers
abreast with the language. The teachers ought to subject themselves to frequent linguistic
test on the general principles of English grammar. They should listen to and read good
literature. This is because in a language learning situation, adequate exposure to the
language leads to efficient and effective use. Teachers must, therefore, be adequately
equipped to face the challenges of teaching a dynamic language such as English. Azikiwe
(183) advises the English teacher to have a knowledge about the structure of the students‟
mother tongue to be able to identity its structural qualities which might be different from
those of the English language. The implication of the above suggestion is that the teacher
should have a knowledge of the dominant first language spoken in the area where he
teaches English to the extent that he would be able to do a simple comparative analysis of
83
the two languages and dictate the possible areas of difficulty and ease in learning the
target language.
The learner of English as a second language is at the centre of the learning
activities. The role of the language teacher is to guide the learner to inculcate the basic
language skills and acquire communicative competence under formal linguistic
instruction. Corder (1973) explains:
The goal of language teaching is to develop in the learners the knowledge
and skills which enable him to play certain roles in another language
community, to turn him into a performer in the target language and to give
him a communicative competence.
To achieve the above, teachers must make effort to be flexible in delivering their lessons.
They should give sufficient attention to the teaching of the rules of concord in every class
of secondary school. Structural drills are recommended if students are to master the
compatibility of words in sentences. The different types of concord should not be taught
in one lesson. The topics should be spread to different lesson periods except where they
interlock. Teachers can assess the students competence by giving a lot of exercises on
lexis and structure, as well as essay writing. Essay writing would help students apply the
rules of concord which they learnt in isolation. The result of the assessment would guide
the teachers in the course of remedial teaching.
Teachers of developmental English in tertiary institutions ought to give adequate
attention to the teaching of concord and other difficult areas in the language. When this is
successfully done, it will not only bridge the gap created by inadequate teaching and
learning in secondary schools, it raises the students sophistication in the language to a
84
level where they can engage gainfully in the activities of attending lectures, write essays
and the other subjects in the medium of English.
Bearing in mind that the success of any learning depends largely on the learner‟s
attitude towards what is learnt, a learner of English as a second language should be
encouraged to develop a positive attitude toward the language. A positive attitude would
raise a learner‟s level of motivation and consequently, his attainment of proficiency in the
English language. Motivation could come through extensive reading. The onus of making
the students voracious readers lie with parents and teachers. However, teachers should be
wary of the recommended texts because some of them are replete with grammatical
errors. By reading books written by English language experts, students would gradually
acquire the rules that guide the syntax of the language. This, would eventually enhance
their communicative competence.
Learners should be made to recognize their incompetence on concord as a
reflection of the general problem facing the use of English in the Nigerian society with
particular reference to secondary schools.
The curriculum designers ought to review their selection of ESL learning task and
give enough attention to concord. The researcher recommends the inclusion of concord in
the syllabi right from primary schools to tertiary institutions. Other difficult areas of the
grammar of English caused by the inherent irregular patterns of the language must be
given equal attention. This would help to minimize overgeneralization of rules by
learners, learning by analogy and wrong hypothization which induce errors.
The essence of error analysis is to apply the knowledge gained from the analysis
to the teaching and learning process. A good number of the previous research carried out
on error analysis tend to analyse the learners‟ errors in all the skills simultaneously. This
85
method of error analysis has a shortfall in giving detailed attention to different types of
errors committed by users of English and the causes of such errors. We, therefore,
recommend that distinct linguistic errors committed by learners such as dangling
modifiers, confusion in the use of homonyms, use of colloquial expressions in formal
writing, wrong use of tenses, wrong use of adverbials, structural ambiguity and other
related aberrations be singled out and given detailed attention in further research on error
analysis. The exposure given to them would be of immense help in the English language
pedagogy.
Further research work is also recommended on concord errors in English on a
wider scope. It could be done by covering all the secondary schools in Anambra State and
beyond. The research would create room for more discoveries of challenges faced by
students on areas of concord and proffer possible remedy to the problem.
All in all, the position occupied by English in Nigeria and the pivotal role it plays
in every facet of the life of the country can never be underplayed. To speak and write
good English is rooted on the ability of the user to avoid derailment from the norms of
the language. The mastery of the syntax of English demands close attention to the
minutest details of the language. Nothing should be taken for granted. Every effort must
be geared towards the promotion of standard English. Errors are not to be regarded as
signs of failure but as an evidence that the learner is working his way towards the correct
usage. An error in the use of English is an integral part of language learning process and a
key to competence development in the language. Users of English must have positive
attitude to errors and work towards the improvement of their performance in the
language.
86
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91
APPENDIX I
Subject – English Language
School –
Class – SS 3
Test on Concord
Duration – 1 hour
Instruction – Answer All
Select the appropriate alternative in the bracket to complete each sentence below.
1. She __________ food everyday.
(a) eat (b) eats (c) eating
2. Human beings ___________ in air.
(a) breathe (b) breathes (c) breathing
3. The prefect and I ___________ friends.
(a) am (b) are (c) are being
4. The particulars of the vehicle ________ expired
(a) have (b) has (c) having
5. Her remains ___________ buried in the church yard.
(a) was (b) were (c) has been
6. His only companion and friend _____________ the speaker of the State House of
Assembly
(a) is (b) are (c) am
7. You, Obinna, ____________ incharge of this house.
92
(a) am (b) is (c) are
8. The headquarters of our Local Government ________ Onitsha.
(a) is (b) are (c) were
9. He who works hard at his studies __________ good grades.
(a) make (b) makes (c) are making
10. His aim in making all those efforts ___ to pass the examination.
(a) was (b) were (c) have been
11. The news that reached us shortly after the accident _________ shocking.
(a) were (b) was (c) were being
12. Your brother loves me, __________ he?
(a) don‟t he (b) didn‟t (c) doesn‟t
13. Three plus seven __________ ten.
(a) equals (b) equal (c) equaling
14. Lack of books ________ the teacher great concern.
(a) gives (b) give (c) have given
15. Rice and beans ___________ my favourite meal.
(a) is (b) are (c) are being
16. Extra police __________ drafted into the scene of the violence.
(a) were (b) was (c) has been
17. The outstanding arrears of salaries ________ paid last month.
(a) was (b) were (c) have been
18. Tales of two cities __________ an interesting novel.
(a) is (b) are (c) have been
93
19. The chief and his wife ________ arrived.
(a) have (b) has (c) has been
20. My thanks __________ to my parents.
(a) go (b) goes (c) are going
21. Twenty kilometres _________ a short distance to cover.
(a) are (b) is (c) are being
22. Three years _________ a short period to be away.
(a) are (b) is (c) have been
23. My trousers ________ torn.
(a) are (b) is (c) has
24. The cause of all these social evils _______ improper discipline.
(a) is (b) are (c) were
25. Five percent of the teachers ________ truants.
(a) are (b) is (c) has been
26. I ________ my parents weekly.
(a) visit (b) visits (c) visiting
27. What you are _________ not matter.
(a) do (b) does (c) doing
28. What I say and what I think _________ my own affair.
(a) are (b) is (c) has been
29. The chairman and secretary of the association _______ here.
(is, are, have been)
30. The governor and his aides __________ arrived.
94
(a) have (b) has (c) has been
31. The Indomitable Lions _________ a strong team in Africa.
(a) are (b) is (c) have been
32. I wish to dedicate this book to the poor and needy whose anguish __________ my
continuing protest.
(a) ensure (b) ensures (c) are ensuring
33. A great deal of onions __________ grown in the North.
(a) is (b) are (c) am
34. Exchanging gifts between friends _______ always encouraging.
(a) are being (b) are (c) is
35. The major problem with the restraint _________ the flies.
(a) was (b) have been (c) were
36. Make sure you ________ your scripts after writing.
(a) submits (b) submit (c) has submitted
37. To qualify for the award of an honours degree in English ______ not easy.
(a) is (b) are (c) am
38. Twenty thousand naira _________ has spent only on clothes.
(a) has (b) have (c) were
39. Each of the players __________ a prize after every match.
(a) gets (b) get (c) are getting
40. Every student and every lecturer _________ expected at the pavilion.
(a) is (b) are (c) am
41. The couple _________ moved into their new house.
95
(a) has (b) have (c) having
42. Even the waste matter from our cows ________ useful.
(a) are (b) is (c) are being
From the brackets below, underline the verbs that agree with the subjects of the
following sentences.
43. Neither Ikenna nor I (am are) is to blame.
44. Neither the lecturer nor the students (were was) dismissed.
45. Either Bibian or her brothers (are is) guilty.
46. Either his brothers or Bibian (is are) guilty.
47. The man as well as his wives (are is) here.
48. The men as well as their wives (are is) here.
49. The president accompanied by his aides (was were) late.
50. The president accompanied by their aides (were was) late.
51. The secretary along with his chairman (was were) absent.
52. The secretaries along with their chairmen (were was) absent.
53. The participants together with the resource person (are is) in the hall.
54. The resource person together with the participants (is are) in the hall.
55. Not only the president but also the members of the club (are is) to go for the
conference.
56. Not only the members of the club but also the president (are is) to go for the
conference.
57. The friends in collaboration with Bright (steal steals) from his parents.
96
58. Bright in collaboration with his friends (steal steals) from his parents.
Fill the gaps in the following sentences with suitable pronouns.
Example:
She enjoyed herself.
59. He injured __________ in the leg.
60. You should give ________ another chance.
61. The ladies blamed __________ for being very flippant.
62. They are ruining __________ own chances.
63. The warriors are killing ____________.
64. I blamed ________ for his misfortune.
65. The dog fed ______________ yesterday.
66. I can do the work ______________.
From the brackets below, choose the pronouns that will agree with the subjects/objects in
the following sentences. (she, his, her, him, one, it, their, they, them, theirs, hers, himself)
67. Chike gave ___________ a slap.
68. The man enjoyed ___________ stay at Abuja.
69. Uche and Emeka have finished ___________ work.
70. Some teachers are lazy. They hardly prepare _______ lessons.
71. I play tennis because _________ makes me happy.
72. I invited the students and told _______ to play in the field.
73. That girl is Ngozi. I want to talk to ___________.
74. Music is an aspect of culture. _________ should be handled with care.
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75. She worked very hard. __________ deserved a prize.
76. When one works hard __________ will succeed.
77. He came back to the class to search for _________ supervisor.
78. Mrs. Agu is always early to work because __________ cleans the office.
79. Mrs. Agu and Uche are usually early to work because ________ clean the office.
Identify the errors in the following sentences and correct them.
80. Dr. and Mrs. Okoye are my sponsor.
81. The ladies in black suits are our aunty.
82. One of my sisters have arrived.
83. These ladies are actress.
84. Okafor is a seamstress.
85. Mary is the hero of the novel.
86. He bought a dress for his fiancé.
87. She is a porter.
88. The couple are teacher.
89. She is a king.
90. My father visit me last week.
91. We came, we saw, we conquer.
92. Monday bought a wrist watch and it was stolen by Uche.
93. The principal caught him in the act, interrogated him, found him guilty and he
was expelled.
94. They broke the door and carter away the property themselves.
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95. Everybody is ready to go, isn‟t it?
96. Cooking of delicious meals are the duty of a wife.
97. Please leave him to enjoy herself.
98. When one is confronted with a problem, he prays.
99. The rich also cries.
100. Cattle is not allowed to graze in this field.
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THE SUBJECTS’ GENERAL PERFORMANCE ON THE 100 QUESTIONS SET
ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONCORD
S/N
St. Charles
Special
Science
School
St. Charles
Sec. School
Inland
Girls’
Sec.
School
Ado
Girls’
Sec.
School
Prince
Memorial
High
School
Overall Mean
Performance
1 71 68 61 63 54 63
2 52 43 44 50 52 48
3 44 41 43 49 40 42
4 50 50 20 20 22 32
5 22 50 12 22 33 27
6 78 70 16 62 74 52
7 22 23 50 34 38 33
8 48 43 31 28 32 36
9 58 44 33 38 30 41
10 60 54 43 21 30 42
11 66 66 71 60 61 64
12 58 60 43 45 38 49
13 58 53 52 51 49 53
14 32 24 26 18 21 24
15 44 22 10 33 28 27
16 15 10 8 11 10 11
17 17 13 11 18 6 15
18 43 33 26 31 21 31
19 46 42 44 48 40 44
100
20 15 10 8 11 10 11
21 68 61 63 54 54 60
22 61 63 53 51 56 57
23 40 38 23 22 21 29
24 49 42 44 47 32 43
25 54 53 57 51 42 51
26 54 51 59 56 51 54
27 51 59 54 58 46 54
28 61 43 13 21 28 33
29 10 15 32 24 20 20
30 64 60 33 24 21 36
31 58 52 60 54 36 52
32 32 11 44 12 12 18
33 15 12 13 11 9 14
34 26 22 18 24 17 21
35 50 53 51 56 38 50
101
THE SUBJECTS GENERAL PERFORMANCE ON THE 100 QUESTIONS SET
ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONCORD
S/N
St. Charles
Special
Science
School
St. Charles
Sec. School
Inland
Girls’
Sec.
School
Ado
Girls’
Sec.
School
Prince
Memorial
High
School
Overall Mean
Performance
36 64 61 64 60 51 60
37 51 53 52 29 30 43
38 52 44 41 46 27 41
39 53 41 47 43 52 47
40 51 44 42 47 31 43
41 57 31 32 28 17 37
42 35 13 33 16 30 25
43 13 11 14 8 12 12
44 44 36 54 50 37 48
45 56 31 72 40 18 43
46 44 36 31 29 43 37
47 22 18 16 14 14 17
48 24 19 26 24 17 22
49 67 66 45 61 59 60
50 62 61 38 40 29 46
51 76 50 22 40 36 43
52 71 23 22 21 23 32
53 28 33 14 21 27 25
54 67 40 38 38 44 45
102
55 78 69 63 62 60 70
56 58 77 30 34 40 48
57 48 44 49 52 54 49
58 46 61 41 47 23 55
59 57 51 57 54 53 54
60 10 54 50 51 44 42
61 13 12 17 16 12 14
62 41 12 22 17 8 20
63 67 62 64 19 40 50
64 50 58 41 43 36 59
65 33 63 40 66 51 49
66 40 41 43 47 40 42
67 52 52 53 56 59 54
68 38 41 52 53 41 45
69 73 41 46 49 42 50
70 64 61 63 64 39 58
103
THE SUBJECTS GENERAL PERFORMANCE ON THE 100 QUESTIONS SET
ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONCORD
S/N
St. Charles
Special
Science
School
St. Charles
Sec. School
Inland
Girls’
Sec.
School
Ado
Girls’
Sec.
School
Prince
Memorial
High
School
Overall Mean
Performance
71 68 65 44 41 43 52
72 49 43 32 21 26 54
73 59 57 53 52 53 55
74 60 40 38 32 61 46
75 54 51 38 44 17 41
76 66 37 64 34 60 52
77 17 28 19 13 15 18
78 46 28 17 13 19 25
79 39 41 42 49 32 41
80 44 42 44 46 31 41
81 38 31 32 34 31 33
82 41 38 37 42 29 37
83 46 47 28 18 20 32
84 38 14 29 17 23 24
85 50 49 40 19 15 35
86 23 30 40 33 41 33
87 26 28 21 14 29 23
88 47 46 43 41 39 43
89 52 30 51 56 46 47
104
90 48 47 51 28 35 42
91 44 31 32 40 41 38
92 23 25 20 29 29 25
93 11 12 9 7 14 11
94 29 21 17 33 14 23
95 31 44 42 46 38 40
96 68 44 51 40 60 53
97 59 43 42 58 56 52
98 20 17 16 27 12 18
99 40 51 50 34 38 33
100 60 20 40 40 20 36