Error Analysis of Verb Tenses: A Case Study of International English Language Testing System Preparation Courses

Abstract

This descriptive analytic study aims to explore errors in the use of verb tenses made by male and female Saudi learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) who are employees of Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Hospital for National Guards. The researcher applied Corder’s Taxonomy of Errors as an instrument to identify and analyze errors found in the learners’ written work while they were enrolled in an IELTS preparation course. All the errors were identified by four language experts and put into four categories to denote the types of error made. These categories were omission, misformation, addition, and mis-ordering. The results of this study indicate that Saudi EFL learners make verb tenses errors according to interlingual and intralingual sources. On the basis of these findings, a number of recommendations and pedagogical impli-cations are suggested to reduce further issues in forming tenses in English.