LEXICAL ERRORS IN COMPOSITION WRITING BY 2nd YEAR IRAQI EFL LEARNERS AT AL- NISOUR UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Abstract

Among the various types of errors in written compositions, lexical errors possess the highest number of errors occurring in learners’ written compositions. In line with this background, this a qualitative study was designed to identify and categorize the lexical errors committed by 2nd year Iraqi EFL learners at Al- Nisour University College in composition writing. The study also seeks to examine their possible causes and implications for teaching practice. The elicitation technique was applied. A Corpus of 40 second-year Iraqi students’ academic writing was accessed and examined to identify the main lexical writing errors following James's Model (1998) which was later modified by Hemchua and Schmitt (2006). The lexical errors were classified into categories, and some suggestions were given. It is hoped that the results could provide some guidance for both Iraqi EFL learners and teachers in terms of reducing errors in composition writing and facilitating smoother communication.