Abstract:

The acquisition of the 3rd person singular -s in English is considered as an introductory concept for second/foreign language learners because it is one of the basic grammatical rules instructed by teachers to L2 learners of English. Therefore, it has been analyzed through different perspectives and theoretical frameworks in order to find a proper interpretation to understand why it is one of the most challenging grammar rules to be acquired by English L1 and L2 learners. The study aims to analyze the use of third person singular present tense -s by the students who are undergraduate Turkish speakers learning English as a foreign language at a state university in Blacksea region of Turkey. The study gathered data from 39 students' writing exams in 2017-2018 academic year. The writings were transcribed by the researchers and the students' uses of 3sg -s were analyzed. The results comprised 40 grammatically/correctly inflected items, 43 omission item (OI) and 13 wrongly/incorrectly inflected items (WI). Compatible with the results in relevant literature, the findings of the study suggest that students learning English seem to have difficulty mastering the use of the 3sg -s. The findings of this study have both pedagogical implications for EFL classroom practices and for foreign language teachers and researchers.

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