Morphosyntactic Interference in EFL Written Compositions

Resumen

Morphosyntactic interference significantly impacts the acquisition of English as a foreign language (EFL), presenting challenges in students' writing skills. This study seeks to examine the prevalence and types of morphosyntactic errors in EFL students' written compositions and text translations, identifying patterns by genre and their pedagogical implications. The research uses a mixed methods approach with a sample of 28 first-level students (14 men, 14 women) from the National and Foreign Languages Pedagogy program at the Technical University of Cotopaxi, Pujilí Extension. Hallazgos reveal distinct error patterns by gender. Subject-verb agreement errors dominate writing tasks for both genders (14% in men, 13% in women). However, substitution errors (14% women vs. 7% men) and omissions (7% women vs. 4% men) are more common among women. In translation exercises, substitution errors prevail, with a higher percentage among women (16% vs. 13% men). The study concludes that morphosyntactic error patterns differ by gender, highlighting the need for gender-specific teaching strategies in EFL instruction. Furthermore, the persistent influence of Spanish as a mother tongue highlights the importance of contrastive analysis in teaching. An adapted pedagogical approach is recommended to effectively address gender-specific challenges and improve EFL learning outcomes.