A Contrastive Study of Grammar-Related Errors: Language Interference and Writing Difficulties among Iranian EFL Students

Since Persian and English differ structurally, Grammar-related language interference is the main challenge for Iranian EFL students, especially in writing. This study adopts a convergent mixed-methods design to identify how Persian interference affects grammar errors, the most common error types, and effective pedagogical strategies. The research was run at Shokouh Ofogh Language Institute in Kashmar, with ۵۰ female intermediate-level students aged ۱۳-۱۶. A mixed-method approach was used: in the qualitative phase, the students were surveyed via semi-structured interviews, while the quantitative phase involved frequency distribution of errors using a frequency table. Findings revealed that the most frequent errors are prepositional mistakes, incorrect word order, subject-verb disagreement, and verb tense misuse. In addition, students report inadequate explicit grammar instruction as an important challenge. The study suggests that Persian language interference affects grammar errors and that contrastive analysis teaching methods and enhanced corrective feedback can help reduce these difficulties. These findings underline the need for chosen educational methods to improve grammar instruction for Iranian EFL learners and contribute to second-language writing research.

کلیدواژه ها:

EFL students ، grammar ، language interference ، writing difficulties