The Distribution and Frequency of Grammatical Errors in Second Language Writing: A Case Study of Chinese High School Students

As Error analysis in second language writing remains controversial, this study aims to investigate errors with high frequency in L2 writing of high school students in China and reveal the relationship between writing tasks and error types. By analyzing compositions in high school English exams, the study will discover the distribution pattern frequencies of different errors and make comparisons of students at different levels. The findings indicate that verb tense errors are the most frequent but decrease as students progress in grade level, while syntactical errors become more prevalent in more complex tasks, such as continuation writing. This study highlights the persistent challenges students face in constructing grammatically accurate sentences in flexible writing tasks. These insights provide empirical evidence for targeted grammar instruction, emphasizing verb usage and sentence structure complexity to improve overall writing proficiency.