Error Analysis and Implications of Chinese Students' English Writing Based on Computer Scoring System

Abstract

This study aims to detect and analyze the errors made by Chinese vocational college students with the help of a computer scoring system. Under the theoretical framework of interlanguage theory and error analysis theory, errors are classified into three categories and five sub-categories, namely: 1. substance errors: orthography; 2. text errors: morphology and syntax; 3. discourse errors: coherence and pragmatics. 90 compositions with a total number of 11,761 words were screened and detected by computational and manual means. A total of 1652 errors were found and given detailed analysis and explanation. The study concludes that the most common errors occurred in orthography, such as spelling, capitalization, and punctuation, and syntax, such as sentence fragment/ sentence redundancy. Analyzing the causes of the errors provides implications for English teachers and researchers of the computer scoring system.