Linguistic accuracy is a crucial component of effective writing. However, ESL learners often encounter difficulties that affect the clarity and quality of their written texts. This study aims to identify and profile the most prevalent linguistic inaccuracies in undergraduate ESL learners’ writing. A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed involving 53 undergraduate students from the University of Dhaka selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through an essay-writing task and analyzed using an adapted error analysis framework, followed by descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis using SPSS 25.0. The findings revealed 16 types of errors categorized into grammatical, mechanical, lexical, and discourse marker errors, with grammatical errors being the most dominant. The results also indicated that essay length is not a reliable predictor of overall linguistic accuracy. Factors such as first language interference and limited writing practice were found to contribute to these inaccuracies. These findings provide empirical insights into common error patterns in ESL writing and underscore the importance of implementing targeted, context-sensitive instructional strategies that emphasize linguistic accuracy and sustained writing practice.
Gourob Das (Wed,) studied this question.