English Writing Performance and Syntactic Errors: The Case of Southern Palawan ESL Learners

Abstract

Writing is a crucial skill in English language learning, enabling learners to articulate ideas effectively and clearly. Writing is inherently complex, as it integrates content mastery, logical organization, grammar, mechanics, and stylistic choices. At the heart of this process is syntax—the rules governing sentence structure and word order, which are essential for producing clear and coherent written communication. Thus, this study examines the common syntactic errors in the English writing of Grade 10 ESL learners in Southern Palawan to identify error patterns, contributing factors, and their implications for language instruction. Using Dulay et al. (1982) Surface Strategy Taxonomy, the analysis categorized errors into omission (e.g., articles, prepositions, pronouns), addition (e.g., repetition of prepositions, singular/plural mismatches), misformation, and misordering. Data were gathered through essay evaluations and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that students have a satisfactory level of English writing performance. Therefore, students are still exhibiting syntactic errors, as a result, the study found out that the students are still challenged to write a clear coherent text with one of the factors including psychological condition, limited grammatical understanding, technologies specifically gadgets, and lack of exposure to structured writing that significantly contributes to these errors. Other major factors that contribute to the syntactic errors are affective, linguistic, and external factors. Findings highlight the need for tailored interventions, including explicit grammar instruction, contextualized writing exercises, vocabulary-enrichment programs or activities, and digital literacy interventions. This study offers actionable insights to enhance English language pedagogy and support ESL learners in overcoming syntactic challenges, thereby fostering improved academic and professional communication skills.