An analysis of syntactic transfer in students’ english essays: cases from Secondary Schools in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania

This study analyzed syntactic transfer among Kiswahili learners of English in three government schools in Kilimanjaro Region. The aim of the study was to examine the cases of L1 transfer in students’ essays in order to find out the nature, amount and common syntactic transfer patterns. The study was guided by Selinker’s theory of interlanguage learning. The data for this study were collected through observation, questionnaire and the writing task by which respondents were given a topic on which to write an essay. The analysis followed the method of content analysis. The data patterns were sought with a view to identifying instances of syntactic transfer. The instances were then grouped and counted and comparatively described in percentages according to the levels and schools. The findings suggest that respondents transferred some syntactic features of their L1 in a consistent way when writing in English. Both Form III and IV transferred their L1 knowledge into English. The transfer types observed from their essays include word order transfer, article deletion, subject omission and redundant pronoun. Word order transfer featured more prominently compared to the other types.