ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is a great pleasure for me to thank many people who have helped me in the
preparation of this graduation paper.
First of all, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs.
Nguyen Thi Le, MA, who has been wonderfully helpful in providing me with
invaluable advises, instruction, reading and commenting on every part of my thesis.
I also would like to express my sincere thanks to the teachers of English at Tran
Hung Dao High School, especially Mrs. Pham Thi Luan for her help and guidance
while I was carrying out the survey.
I wish to thank all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2,
especially the lecturers in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicated
instructions during my years of university work.
I am particularly grateful to my friends for their collaborating, constructive ideas
in helping me collect valuable reference documents and data.
Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge my beloved family for the source
of happiness and support which they have been giving me.

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ABSTRACT

The wh-questions is an interesting category of English grammar. It is obvious
that students apply the wh-questions much into learning English process and in real
life. However, the uses of the wh-questions referred to in some books have not been
dealt with in full and sometimes cause confusion to learners of English.
As a result, students of English often make errors when they use the whquestions. Therefore, this research work entails studying the uses of the wh-questions
and conducting a survey for error analysis.
Based on the results of the survey, the types of errors and causes have been
found. Solutions to the problems have been suggested.


PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I.RATIONALE ............................................................................................................... 1
II. RESEARCH PRESUPPOSITION ........................................................................... 2
III. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ........................................................ 3
IV. SCOPE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................ 3
VI. METHODS OF THE STUDY ................................................................................. 3
VII. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH .......................................... 3
VIII. DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH WORK .............................................................. 4

PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.1.LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF........................................................................ 5
I.2. Wh-questions ........................................................................................................... 6
I.2.1. Definition .............................................................................................................. 6
I.2.2. Types of Wh-questions ......................................................................................... 7
I.2.2.1. Wh-information questions ................................................................................. 7
I.2.2.2. Repeat please questions ..................................................................................... 8
I.2.2.3. Elaborate please questions ................................................................................. 8
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I.2.3. Form ...................................................................................................................... 9
I.2.3.1. Wh-questions about an object ............................................................................ 9
I.2.3.2. Wh-questions about a subject .......................................................................... 11
I.2.3.3. Wh-questions with How + Adjective/ Adverb ................................................ 11

II.2 Common errors and causes .................................................................................... 21
II.2.1. Errors in the use of question words as objects of prepositions ......................... 21
II.2.2 Errors in using What and Which, Who and Whom ............................................. 22
II.2.4 Errors in the use of main verb in wh-questions .................................................. 23
II.2.5 Errors in the use of how much and how many ................................................... 23
II.2.6 Errors in the use of what and how ...................................................................... 24
II.2.7 Errors in answering questions with why as a suggestion or invitation............... 24
II.2.8 Errors in the use of how as a greeting rather than a question ............................. 25
II.3 Suggested solutions ............................................................................................... 25
II.3.1 Suggested solutions ............................................................................................ 25
II.3.2 Suggested exercises ............................................................................................ 27

PART THREE
CONCLUSION
REFERENCE ............................................................................................................... 30
APPENDICES .............................................................................................................. 32
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE..................................................................................... 32
SUGGESTED EXERCISES ........................................................................................ 38

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PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I.RATIONALE
The English language is considered to be one of the most important languages in
the world. There are other languages such as French, Spanish, Chinese etc, but they
are not important for the same reasons as the English Language. English is a universal
language that links the world together which is the most important fact considering
the changing times.

II. RESEARCH PRESUPPOSITION
With regard to the errors quoted above, the problem is with grammatical
structures. The correct versions could be:
Which hobbies does Tom have?
How does the radio work?
From whom did you obtain the information?
Some questions are raised:
1) What kinds of errors in the use of wh-questions are made by the eleventhgrade students at Tran Hung Dao High School in the academic year of
2012/2013?
2) What kinds of errors in the use of wh-questions is the most often made by the
eleventh-grade students at Tran Hung Dao High School in the academic year of
2012/2013?
3) What are the causes of the errors in the use of wh-questions made by the
eleventh-grade students at Tran Hung Dao High School in the academic year of
2012/2013?
Based on the questions above, I am eager to learn about the problems and make
an error analysis in questions so that the major errors in the use of wh-questions may
be found.
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III. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study aims to find out mistakes in using wh-questions made by learners and
determine whether the learners are aware of their mistakes or not. The study is
expected to answer the following questions:
1) What are the mistakes in using wh-questions by learners?
2) To what extent, are the learners aware of their mistakes?
It is expected that after exploring the mistakes and the awareness of learners of
their mistakes, the study can suggest some solutions to solve the problems of making
mistakes.

Chapter two is named “Common Errors in the Use of Wh-Questions”. It has
three sections. Section one is devoted to the survey. The second deals with error types
and causes. The last one is solutions to the problems and suggested exercises on the
wh-questions.

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PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.1.LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF
Wh-questions have been described by many grammarians like L. G. Alexander
(1990), John Eastwood (1994), Raymond Murphy (2000), Elaine Walker & Steve
Ellsworth (2000) and so on. They each have their own way to describe the whquestions. Generally, they focus their attention on the definition, formation , function,
types and usages of the wh-questions. Sometimes, they also mention to intonation in
expressing the wh-questions.
In the book Longman English Grammar Practice for Intermediate Students, L.
G. Alexander gives definition of wh-questions. Beside, in the 2nd edition of the
Grammar Book, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman list some of the kinds of
information that can be sought with wh-questions along with some of the settings
where they are used. Wh-questions, remember, are used to get specific informationwho, what, when, where, why, and so on.
Mark Lester (2008) in the book McGraw-Hill’s Essential ESL Grammar shows
main functions of wh-questions that are quite understandable for learners namely
subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, object complement and
object of preposition. In addition, he spends much his attention on distinguishing
function of subject/object questions between who and whom,which and what. This
often makes students confused when doing exercises.
In the book The Teacher’s Grammar of English: A Course Book and Reference

Therefore, it is essential to have a comprehensive study of common errors in the use
of wh-questions.
I.2. Wh-questions
I.2.1. Definition
Wh-questions, according to L. G. Alexander in the book Longman English
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Grammar Practice for Intermediate are questions that begin with any of the words
“who, what, when, where”, etc or phrases “ what time, how many, how much, how
often”, etc. For instance:
What did you do last evening?
When do you arrive?
Where are you now?
Who is that?
How many students are there in your class?
I.2.2. Types of Wh-questions
In the book The Teacher’s Grammar of English: A Course Book and Reference
Guide , Ron Cowan (2008) shows types of wh-questions. Wh-questions can be
categorized according to the purpose they serve for an asker. Three types exist:
information questions, repeat please questions, and elaborate please questions
I.2.2.1. Wh- information questions
Information wh-questions are the basic type. They are used to request
information that has not been previously mentioned, and they take the different forms
considered thus far.
Unlike

yes/no

questions,


e. Who is doing it?

Someone is doing it.

Information wh-questions have up-fall intonation, as shown in (a), (b), and (c)
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or down-rise intonation, as shown in (d) and (e)
a. How can they do it?
b. What did she want?
c. How long did the meeting last?
d. Where did John go?
e. What has Julia done now?
I.2.2.2. Repeat please questions
Repeat please questions are often uttered when the asker either did not hear or
understand the information she or he was given or is having difficulty accepting it.
This type of wh-question frequently functions as a request for verification. Repeat
please questions can have two word orders: question word order with the wh-word
fronted, as in (2a), or normal declarative statement word order, shown in (2b). Both
have rising intonation. A greater degree of stress on the wh-word and a higher rise in
the intonation patterns signal a greater degree of surprise on the part of the asker.
(2) Fred: When did Susan come home this morning?
Alice: At five o’clock.
Fred: a. When did she get in?
b. She got in when?
I.2.2.3. Elaborate please questions
Elaborate please questions are used when the asker has already been told
something but needs more information regarding what was said. A question is then

a declarative sentence is questioned and the sentence contains an auxiliary verb, a
modal verb, or copular be, two rules come into play: wh- movement and subject- aux
inversion. For example, the wh-question in (3a) asks for information about the direct
object in sentence (3b). The steps that are followed to produce (3a) are shown in (3c)
and (3d).
(3) a. What are you watching?
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b. You are watching something.

declarative sentence

c. What you are watching _____?

Wh-movement

d. What are you watching?

subject- aux inversion

First, the object, something, is converted into the appropriate wh- question word,
what, and this is moved to the beginning of the sentence by the process of whmovement ( also referred to as wh- fronting ). Subsequently, subject- aux inversion
switches the positions of the subject, you, and the auxiliary verb, are.
If the underlying sentence does not contain an auxiliary verb, a model verb, or copular
be, then a slightly different process is applied to create a wh- question. This process is
shown in (4).
(4) a. Who did you see?
b. You saw someone.


illustrated in (6).
(6) a. Who needs a lift?
b. Someone needs a lift.

declarative sentence

c. who needs a lift?

subject, someone, becomes who

I.2.3.3. Wh- questions with How + Adjective/ Adverb
How combines with adjectives and adverbs to form questions beginning with how
many, how long, how often, and so on, as shown in (7).
(7) a. How long did the press conference last?
b. How many stamps did she take?
I.2.4. Functions of Wh-question words
I.2.4.1 As a subject
Mark Lester (2008) in the book McGraw-Hill’s Essential ESL Grammar give
quite understandable picture of functions of wh-questions. He says that Who, Whose,
Which, What used as subjects - are normally followed by an affirmative, not an
interrogative, verb:
For example:

Who pays the bills?

(affirmative verb)

Whose/Which horse won?

(affirmative verb)

For example:

Who did the faculty give the prize to?
Or To whom did the faculty give the prize?

I.2.4.4. As a subject complement
Martin J. Endley (2010) states that a subject complement is an expression that
describes the subject in a clause. Subject complements can follow linking verbs such
as be, look, feel, get, become, sound, smell, appear, seem, prove, taste, come, fall, go,
grow, keep, remain, and turn. They can be either personal pronouns or demonstrative
pronouns. The Wh-words in Wh-questions as a subject complement is normally used
before the verb be. It can function as a predicate. For instance:
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Who is he?
What is that?
Whose umbrella is this?
I.2.4.5. As an object complement
An object complement is a noun, pronoun, or adjective which follows a direct
object and renames it or tells what the direct object has become. It is most often used
with verbs of creating or nominating such as make, name, elect, paint, call, etc. When
the word follows the direct object and it tells what the direct object has become, it is
the object complement. Here, wh-word is used as an object complement.
For example:

What did you call your last book?
How did he make you? → He made me happy.

I.2.4.6 As an object of preposition

something
asking for repetition or

What? I can't hear you.

confirmation

You did what?

What...for

asking for a reason, asking why

What did you do that for?

When

asking about time

When did he leave?

Where

asking in or at what place or

Where do they live?

position
Which



asking for reason, asking what...for

Why do you say that?

Why don't

making a suggestion

Why don't I help you?

How

asking about manner

How does this work?

asking about condition or quality

How was your exam?

How + adj/adv

asking about extent or degree

see examples below

How far

distance


asking for reason, asking why

How come I can't see her?

(informal)

I.2.5.2. Making a suggestion or invitation
Almost Wh-questions are used for seeking information but in the cases Why in
combination with negative questions, they are used for a suggestion or invitation.
For example:
Why don’t you call the service center? → a request
15


→ I already did, but there was no answer.
Why don’t we go out for a meal? → an invitation
→ That sounds good.
How about some cake to go with it?
→ OK, why not
I.2.5.3. Beginning a conversation
In general, a conversation is necessary for people to communicate with each
other. Questions are asked with the purpose of finding information to show care about
heath, job, old, etc. Beside, a question is a greeting to begin a conversation rather than
a question when two people are introduced.
For example: A: How do you do?
B: How do you do?
I.2.5.4. Making a comment
People use the grammar structure What + be... like? to give a request for a
description or comment:

English for six years. Some have learnt English for eight years. Therefore, the
expected English level among them is intermediate. Naturally, they have been taught
some of the wh-questions uses. Some of them are really good at grammar but some
of them are bad at grammar in general, and wh-questions in particular.
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II.1.3 Type of survey
To collect data, a completion test was used. It involves such activities as
choosing the correct answer, making questions with wh-question words in bracket and
filling in the blanks with question words.
II.1.4 Construction of the survey
The material used in the test was taken from grammar books concerned with the
wh- questions. The survey is divided into two parts. Part A, which consists of three
sentences, is designed to get general information about informants and their English
competence. Part B is conducted to find out how much the students have known and
mastered the wh-questions. This part has three exercises.
1) Exercise 1: Choose the correct answer
This exercise consists of twenty items.
2) Exercise 2: Make questions with wh question words in bracket
This exercise has twenty five items.
3) Exercise 3: Fill in the blanks with question words
This exercise consists of fifteen items.
II.1.5 Preparation of the survey
II.1.5.1 Test items
There are many possible errors in the use of wh-questions that survey cannot find
out. Thus, it is necessary to predict possible errors and include them in the survey. In
this survey, possible errors were classified into the following categories.
1) Errors in the use of question words as subjects
2) Errors in the use of question words as objects of prepositions

II.1.6.2 Try-out
The try-out was conducted on November, 15th, 2012. The students from two
classes were gathered in the room and asked to do the questionnaire as well as
possible in compliance with their own ability. They were instructed carefully before
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