Iraqi EFL Learners Production and Recognition of Tense in English: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

م.د صلاح عبدالحسين زميط                                                                                         م.د محمد حسن محيي

الجامعة المستنصرية\ كلية الآداب\قسم اللغة الإنكليزية                       الجامعة المستنصرية\ كلية الآداب\قسم اللغة الإنكليزية

Instructor Mohammad H. Muhi (Ph.D)        Instructor Salah A. Zmait (Ph.D)                 

E-mail: [email protected]     [email protected]

Abstract

This study aims at showing the Iraqi male-female undergraduate EFL learners` recognition, production of tense in English. The centrality of this topic stems from the fact that unless tense is not mastered by the learners of English, they can hardly produce acceptable sentences in the L2/FL. Towards this aim an elicitation test is designed to identify the errors of Iraqi male-female undergraduate students distributed over the 1st, 3rd and 4^th academic levels of the Department of English language in Mustansiriyah University / Iraq, in the production and recognit ion of tense reflecting their proficiency level using one-way ANOVA

 The study is motivated by (Corder, 1976, p. 1) argument that eradicating any error requires a good understanding of the nature of that error. Hence, developing and improving language teaching techniques requires full and systematic knowledge of learner`s errors. The study revealed tense-aspect related significant differences with respect to gender and academic level. The findings provide a systematic understanding of the challenges faced by the Iraqi EFL learners and propose pedagogical implications in order to enhance their proficiency in the English language.