Grammatical Features in EFL Learners’ Spoken English
Grammar is a crucial element in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) because it enables students to engage in meaningful, precise, and comprehensible oral communication. However, many junior high school students continue to face challenges in applying grammatical rules during spontaneous speaking tasks. This study aims to describe the grammatical features used by EFL learners in their spoken English and to evaluate the accuracy of these features. A qualitative descriptive research methodology was employed. The participants consisted of five seventh-grade students selected via purposive sampling from a junior high school in Karawang. Data were collected through speaking tasks involving self-introductions, audio recordings, and verbatim transcripts. The collected data were analyzed using an Error Analysis framework, which involved identifying grammatical features, classifying grammatical errors, and assessing grammatical accuracy against standard English conventions. The findings indicate that students utilized four grammatical features in their oral performance: tenses, subject-verb agreement, plural nouns, and sentence structure. Among these, the simple present tense emerged as the most frequently used form, owing to its alignment with the communicative context of self-introduction. Nevertheless, instances of grammatical inaccuracy remained prevalent, particularly regarding subject-verb agreement and sentence structure. The accuracy analysis revealed that one student achieved a high level of accuracy (85%), while three students demonstrated lower accuracy (43–57%), and one student was deemed inaccurate (28%). These results suggest that, despite possessing basic grammatical knowledge, junior high school students struggle to consistently apply grammatical rules during verbal communication. Therefore, it is recommended that English educators integrate grammar instruction with communicative speaking activities to enhance students' grammatical accuracy and overall speaking competence.