Lexical Errors in Second Language Academic Writing

Abstract

The main focus of error analysis, a branch of applied linguistics, is investigating and studying errors that are made by second language (L2) learners. The present study is based on quantitative and qualitative analysis as well as corpus-aided analysis of lexical errors in academic vocabulary. The study aims to assist educators and teachers to develop, organize lessons or courses, which will enhance the effectiveness of academic vocabulary learning on the part of the students. Based on the results of the given research, teachers can refer to the errors in academic vocabulary, which will help them notice the gap in Academic Word List (AWL), by raising their awareness and emphasizing on certain areas of academic vocabulary. The instruments of the study were 39 essay scripts written by the AUA (American University of Armenia) first-year students majoring in English and Communications.