A Corpus-based Study of the Grammatical and Lexical Errors Committed by Learners of English at Basic Education Diploma Level.

Rationale for the study: (why you think the study needs to be done)
Learners keep committing the same errors year after year and by analysing the errors I believe that there will be a chance to find the reasons of the errors and help to avoid committing the same errors every time. The study will reveal the most common errors and will raise teacher’s awareness about the common errors made by Omani learners.
Questions the study aims to address:
What are the most common grammatical and lexical errors committed by learners?

Which are more frequent errors, grammatical or lexical?
Research Methodology: (how you intend to get and analyse data)
It will be a homemade corpus. Exam papers will be investigated by using corpus linguistic procedures. These exam papers are digitized and they will be from the Tests and Examination Administration Department in the Ministry of Education in Oman. They will be from first semester in the school academy year 2014-2015. The examinees’ age is about 17-18 years old. They have been taught English as second language in Omani schools since they were at the age of seven.
The structure of the dissertation
Chapter 1:
Introduction (1000–1500 words)
•Says what the topic is, why you became interested in researching it, and discusses the nature of the issue or problem that the dissertation deals with.
•The research questions could also be introduced at this point.
•Finally, you outline the structure of the dissertation.
Chapter 2:
Review of literature and theoretical framework (4000-5000 words)
This may also extend to two chapters in some cases.
•Outlines the findings/issues raised by other studies that are relevant to your project.
•Should be state-of-the-art in its focus.
•Should be critical rather than just a descriptive list of studies you have read.
•Addresses contextual issues relevant to your study.
•Leads up to a statement of your research questions.
Chapter 3:
Methodology (approx 2000 words)
Generally includes:
•Description of participants.
•Description of the research method(s) and the procedures employed to collect and analyse data.
•How you have ensured validity and reliability of your data.
•Outline of piloting stage.
•Description of how ethical issues were addressed.
( I have contacted the authority in the ministry of education and they gave me a letter to receive the needed data. It took more than one month to receive the entire data file as it was the second semester examination time for the diploma sttudents and after that declaring the results so they were busy and even the computer processing the data that I need was slow.)
Chapter 4:
Results (4000-5000 words)
•Presentation of your findings as they relate to your research questions.
•If new themes emerged from the data, you can set them out here.
•Be critical in how the data is presented.
•Avoid merely listing answers to your questionnaire/interview guide.
Chapter 5:
Discussion (3000-4000 words)
•Compares and contrasts your findings to those of the studies you discussed in the lit. review.
•Did you find something similar to the other studies or something different?
•If different, why do think this was? What are some potential causes?
Chapter 6:
Conclusion (approx 1000 words)
•Summarises main findings (not a cut and paste job!).
•Outlines practical implications of the research by revisiting the research questions.
•Sketches future research possibilities.
•Discusses limitations and drawbacks of the project.