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mastery of it, especially in the area of the basic language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Among these four skills, achieving the goal of effective writing competence seems to be far from being realized. Evidence of this abounds in the type of errors committed by students in their written works. In Opata (31), samples of undergraduates answer scripts were published. The scripts not only manifest the students'

errors, but they also reflect the level of incompetence. Ibileye (8) also exposes some letters badly written by first year students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, as he laments over the inadequate knowledge of the use of English by the students. As offensive as the errors may be, what is more important and beneficial to the students is how these errors should be corrected and be avoided in future and how to get communicative ability of students enhanced. In the Nigerian school system, the English language is both a teaching subject and a language of instruction at the primary and post primary levels. In the university, an English language course is usually organized by the General Studies Unit. The course is mandatory for every first year student in all the departments of the university. One of the aims of this course, according to Ibileye (8), is to impart the necessary language skills which the students need throughout the duration of their courses in the university. It is also the expectation of the universities and the Nigerian society that a graduate should be able to perform in the English language with competence and even teach others. Presently, our university students are found wanting in this regard, especially in the area of communicating in writing. With too many errors in their written works, it becomes imperative that something needs to be done to help solve the problem of poor

3 English usage among our undergraduate students. This situation prompts the survey of the errors in the written English of the prospective graduates to determine their areas of difficulty and analyse them. The result of the analysis is expected to provide invaluable information to the solution of the problem. 1.2 Statement of the Problem It is a fact that there are some students who find their way into the university with poor background knowledge of English. Inherent in these students is the problem of poor expressions in the language. This is evident in the incessant errors committed by undergraduate students in their written works. It is very disgusting and disheartening that a university student cannot communicate his/her thought well in writing. The situation calls for attention because these are prospective graduates who will come into society to put into service the knowledge they have gained from the university. 1.3 Objectives of the Study The objectives of this study include the following: (a) To identify and systematically analyse the errors in the written English of first year students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka with a view to finding out those areas of difficulty that pose challenges to the students. (b) To classify the errors into various error types and critically explain the reasons that might have occasioned the errors made by the students. (c) To determine the negative impact to effective communication caused by the errors and the frequency of their occurrence. (d) To propose workable strategies for dealing with the errors.

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