Writing Errors in Basic Lao Language Taken as an Elective Subject by Undergraduate Students at Ubon Ratchathani University, Academic Years 2017-2019

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify writing errors in an elective course, “Introduction to Lao Language”, taken by undergraduate students at Ubon Ratchathani University during the academic years 2017-2019. Lao orthography and error analysis of the lexical usage were employed as the principles to identify the students’ writing errors. A purposive sample of 372 pieces of the students’ creative narrative writing from three different topics: “My Impression”, “Jokes”, and “Blessings”, were analyzed. After identifying the errors, frequency counts were used to categorize the error types. The study revealed a total of 1,759 errors, which were classified into four main types: 1) spelling errors, 2) replacing Lao words with Thai words, 3) using Thai orthography in Lao writing, and 4) lexical errors. Among spelling errors, three subtypes were identified. The most frequently occurring errors were in the spelling of vowels, followed by consonants, and then tones. Regarding consonant errors, more errors were found in initial consonants than in final consonants. Among the 24 initial consonant errors, the most frequently misspelled consonants were ລ, followed by ຮ, ຂ, ມ, ຢ, ອ, ຊ, ຍ, ໜ, ຫຼ, ໝ, ຖ, and ທ, respectively. The least frequently misspelled were ສ and ຫງ. For final consonants, the most common error was in writing ນ, followed by ງ, ມ, ກ, ດ, and ບ, respectively, with ວ being the least frequently misspelled. In vowel spelling errors, the most commonly misspelled word wasເອົາ, followed by ອໍ, ອື, and ອີ, ເອີ, ໄອ, ໃອ, ເອຍ, ອົວ, ອິ, and ອະ. The least frequently misspelled were ອຶand ເອາະ. Tone errors were related to writing words with the wrong tonal markers. Additionally, using Thai words in Lao writing was identified as a common error, particularly at the phrasal level. In terms of applying Thai orthography to Lao writing, the most common errors involved words with vowel diphthongs such as ເ -ຍ and ເອຍ, as well as clusters. Lexical errors frequently included the incorrect usage of words such as ປີ້ (ticket), ຂ້ອຍ (me), and ເລື່ອງ (story), respectively.