Examining Verb Tense Errors in Bruneian L2 Learners

This study replicates an original investigation into common grammatical errors made by Bruneian English language learners. Building on Hazirah’s (2023) research, the current study aims to validate her findings by analysing errors from a different participant group. Ten participants from a local government school (five from Year 7 and five from Year 10) were included, and their picture compositions were examined, focusing specifically on verb tense errors, which were identified as the most prevalent grammatical issues in the original study. This replication study categorizes verb tense errors into types such as omission, addition, misinformation, misordering, and blends. Results demonstrate consistency with the original study, with omission being the most common error type, presumably due to possible L1 influence. Despite minor variations, the replication reaffirms the original study's conclusions, emphasizing the importance of reassessing ESL/EFL teaching methods.