|
|
An Investigation of the Orthographic Errors in the Graded Discussion Board of Virtual University of Pakistan
Muhammad Asif
Abstract:
The study explored the types of orthographic errors and their probable causes in the
students’ postings on the Graded Discussion Board (GDB) of Virtual University of
Pakistan (VUP). The purpose of the GDB is to invite comments from students on a given
topic; students place their comments within a given time limit and get graded
accordingly. Misspelling is a natural and common phenomenon among the second
language (L2) learners. However, due to the availability of spell check software options,
misspellings should get minimized in online discussions. For the present study, the
spelling mistakes committed by the graduate students of English Comprehension
(ENG101) course were analyzed. The findings demonstrated many types of spelling
mistakes including inconsistent rules, ambiguous words, vowel substitutions, consonant
substitutions, space inaccuracy, inflectional endings, double consonants, consonant
omissions, vowel omissions, tense mistakes and letter reversals. Some of the causes
explored were quick and direct typing on the interface, keyboard adjacency and not
using the spell check software. The results revealed that major spelling mistakes were
due to the lack of inappropriate guidance, insufficient practice and lack of adequate
awareness about inflectional morphology. Some recommendations to improve spelling
mistakes either on students end or through teaching techniques have been suggested at
the end.
Keywords:
Orthographic, Errors, Misspelling, Graded Discussion Board, Inflectional morphology.
Full Text:
PDF
|
|