toward a taxonomy of errors in iranian efl learners’ basic-level writing

This study attempted at classifying common errors found in the written performance of lower- and upper-intermediate iranian efl learners. it engaged a rich corpus of efl writing samples collected over a course of 20 years (between 1992 and 2011) from lower- and upper-intermediate efl learners studying at various iranian universities to provide a precise taxonomy of errors in basic-level efl writing (i.e., single paragraphs and five paragraph essays). a total of 3157 sophomore efl learners were included in this study, and from each of them five writing samples were collected. there was a total of 15785 texts in the corpus which contained a total of 5,150,205 words. corder’s (1981) framework for error analysis was implemented, and it was found that basic-level efl writing errors could best be classified into three major categories: structural, discursive, and cognitive. classroom procedures and teaching techniques that can help both teachers and learners to overcome the identified error types are discussed.