English abstract
An examination of a corpus of Omani Grade 6 learners' writing errors revealed that most fell into the category of mechanics. However, teachers considered grammatical and syntactical errors to constitute the most serious. Omani EFL grade six teachers viewed the seriousness of different types of writing errors differently. They consider grammatical and syntactic errors to be very serious error types. This discrepancy between the corpus of learners' errors and teachers' perceptions of these errors indicates that more commonly made errors are viewed as less serious by teachers. Omani teachers rated commoner errors to be less serious using several criteria in their error evaluation.
This study aimed at providing counts of the most frequently committed writing errors by Omani grade six learners. In addition, the study aimed at investigating possible gender differences between Omani male and female grade six EFL learners in writing fluency and error rate in the main categories of grammar, lexis, syntax and writing mechanics. The research instruments used to collect relevant data consisted of a corpus of learners' errors and a teachers' perceptions survey.
As a result of the research, the author has made the following suggestions
1. A remedial plan to help learners develop their writing ability.
2. Young Omani learners should be provided with adequate teaching and practice of the mechanics of writing in particular. Learners' grammatical, syntactic and lexical competencies should be given suitable attention, teaching and practice to help primary school learners' progress as successful EFL writers.
