Investigating the Problems that Encounter EFL Students in Morphological Skills at the Tertiary Level

Abstract

This study investigates the problems that encounter EFL students in morphological skills at the university level. The study adopts a descriptive analytical method. A test is used as an instrument for data collection. A sample of 35 students is randomly selected from the Sudan University of Science and technology, college of languages. The data obtained from the sample provides answers for the research questions. The data is analyzed using SPSS program, the most important results of the study are: First EFL students’ morphological knowledge is better than their practice and application of morphology, Second the types of questions given by EFL teachers provide suitable ways for the students to practice morphology, Third, question three reveals that EFL students have some difficulties in using some morphemes to form words, Fourth EFL students’ low performance in morphological skills is attributed to inappropriate teaching methods, moreover the study offers the following recommendations: a- Teachers should encourage EFL students, to practice morphology. b-Teachers should offer continuous proposals and exercises for EFL students to experience various types of forming words. c- To improve EFL students’ performance in morphology teachers should improve their teaching methods of morphology. Finally the study offers some suggestions for further research.