An Investigation of Relative Clauses Difficulties among EFL Sudanese Secondary School Students

Abstract

This study aims to investigate relative clauses difficulties experienced by EFL students at Sudanese secondary schools. The study took place at Almanar Secondary Private School for Boys and Girls in the school academic year (2021-2022). The study has adopted the descriptive analytical method: the researcher has collected data by using two tools, a diagnostic test for (30) EFL Sudanese secondary second year school students and a questionnaire for (30)EFL Sudanese secondary school teachers .To analyze the data of the study the researcher has used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).The findings of the study revealed that EFL Sudanese secondary school students encounter some difficulties in using relative clauses; they do not put relative words in the most appropriate place within the sentence as they are unaware of punctuation of the sentence which lead to misunderstanding , when joining sentences together , students join them in the manner conjunctions are used without paying attention to certain exceptions in the usage of using relative clauses hence they find the sentences unfamiliar due to their weak grammar and unawareness of English syntactic structure ..etc . In the light of the findings of the study, the researcher recommends that students should be aware of the importance of English syntactic structure in the process of EFL learning .Furthermore, teachers should teach grammar systematically and comprehensively and allow sufficient practice time, teachers should also focus on the overall structure of English relative clauses as a way of facilitating holistic development of English skills, in addition, understanding of the errors is helpful in the teaching and learning process since it enables both the teacher and students to identify the causes of the errors and find appropriate solutions towards improving the students’ learning process.