Analysis of errors in subject-verb agreement among Malaysian ESL learners

Abstract

This article analyses errors on subject-verb agreement among post-graduate teacher trainees in a college in Malaysia. Twenty postgraduate (English Language Studies) students from a teachers‟ training college from the northern state of Malaysia has participated in the study. The study examine errors in 5 types of subject-verb agreements: subject verb agreement of person, subject verb agreement of number, agreement with coordinated subject, agreement with indefinite expression of amount and also notional agreement and proximity. The instruments used in this study are 2 types of written compositions: argumentative and factual. The compositions were analysed to identify the problems in writing grammatically correct subject-verb agreement by the students. The results of the study reveal that majority of the students have committed errors in subject-verb agreement especially in SVA of number and followed by SVA of person. The students were found to avoid using the complex sub-rules of SVA that include the agreement with coordinated subject, agreement with indefinite expressions of amount and also notional agreement and proximity.