ABSTRACT
This study attempts to analyse the errors in essays written by secondary school students in Continental Schools, Idumwonwina, University of Benin Demonstration Secondary School (UDSS) and University of Benin Teaching Hospital Secondary School (UBTHSS), Ugbowo in Benin City.
The method used for this analysis was the sampling of seventy two students in JSS1, JSS2 & SS1, SS2 who wrote on “The Importance of Communication and My Future Ambition" respectively while forty compositions were selected for analysis. The study found out errors like; verb tense, word order, confusing word choice, wrong spellings, punctuation errors which are grouped into mechanical, grammatical and semantic errors made by students which mar communication flow in their essays. Most of these errors were made because of the influence or interference of their first language, lack of concentration on the part of the students while writing and possibly, teacher’s inadequacies in their teaching methodology.
Errors in student's essays in selected secondary school in Benin manifests in mechanical accuracy and organization, semantic redundancy and ambiguity, as well as grammatical errors of concord and tenses, which shows the level of their language competence.
