This study investigates linguistic aspects in student paper writing through systematic error analysis in the History of Literature course. The research employed a qualitative descriptive approach with document analysis as the primary data collection method. Student papers were systematically examined to identify and categorise linguistic errors across multiple dimensions of academic writing. The analysis revealed a total of 649 linguistic errors distributed across nine categories. Spelling errors dominated with 295 occurrences (45.45%), indicating significant challenges in orthographic accuracy. Word choice errors ranked second with 70 instances (10.79%), followed by grammar errors with 63 occurrences (9.71%) and punctuation errors with 61 instances (9.40%). Sentence structure problems appeared 57 times (8.78%), whilst terminology errors occurred 40 times (6.16%). Affixation errors were identified 29 times (4.47%), cohesion and coherence issues 28 times (4.31%), and politeness/register errors only 6 times (0.92%). The findings demonstrate that surface-level linguistic features, particularly spelling and lexical selection, present the greatest challenges for students writing academic papers in literary studies. The high frequency of spelling errors despite available technological support suggests insufficient proofreading strategies and limited awareness of common orthographic patterns. Word choice and grammar errors indicate ongoing development in academic vocabulary and syntactic control. The relatively low occurrence of cohesion and register errors suggests reasonable competence in discourse organisation and rhetorical awareness. These findings have important pedagogical implications, highlighting the need for explicit instruction in orthographic conventions, strategic vocabulary development, and systematic editing practices. The study contributes valuable insights for designing targeted interventions to support students' academic writing development in literature courses.
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