engleski

Errors in presentations of medical English students

The purpose of this study is to analyse the errors of medical English students in their presentations. The analysis of errors that learners make in learning a language has become a significant aspect of the learning process. Knowledge of errors made by learners helps teachers in working towards a certain teaching goal (Riddel, 1990). Theoretical background will mention James (1998) who states that oral errors can be classified into the linguistic category classification and surface structure taxonomy. The linguistic category classification refers to phonological, grammatical, lexical, textual or discourse level (ibid.) Some other studies on error analysis will be mentioned, as well, but they were mostly concentrated on error analysis of written works. At Zagreb School of Medicine presentations are an obligatory part of medical English classes when students present in English certain body structures and illnesses. In this way they are prepared for future conferences and presentations of their work. The research included 165 third year medical students. Both the oral errors and errors in presentation slides were examined. The errors on slides were mostly connected with poor spelling (or lack of using spellcheck), too much text and poor visuals. Most of medical students have been learning English since the early childhood, but they still struggle with some grammatical problems, mostly articles, verbs (tenses) and prepositions. Also, the pronunciation of medical words causes a lot of problems and instead of checking the pronunciation, students use their own. The starting hypothesis was that learner errors are due to transfer from the learners’ mother tongue. The results showed which types of errors occur most frequently. An understanding of the types of errors will help students in improving their oral proficiency. Also, teachers can identify specific language problems. In this way, students will be more proactive in terms of self-correction.

error analysis, presentations, medical English

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