Making Use of Prepositions: An Academic Proposal to Strengthen Writing Skills in First Level Students of English at the Universidad Técnica del Norte of Ibarra, Ecuador

Abstract

This research-based article shows strengths and weaknesses that first level students of English at the Universidad Técnica del Norte of Ibarra-Ecuador have on the uses, functions and meaning of English prepositions. Prepositions, as part of the grammar system, can occur everywhere in the process of writing, and there are not many rules to help beginner students to use them correctly. It is difficult for students to learn to use prepositions all on their own; even after a lot of work and effort to achieve a high English proficiency level, students of English still struggle with prepositions. Thus, the main purpose of this work was to describe and explain why beginner students of English make mistakes when using prepositions in writing, and then contribute to the correct use of prepositions in English to strengthen not only Speaking but Writing skills.  The findings showed that there were some mistakes that beginner students committed at the moment of using prepositions when writing; the main errors encountered have relation with the following phenomena: i) Language transfer or interference from the mother tongue, ii) Transfer of training, and iii) Overgeneralization of target language rules. Therefore, this article indicates that guiding students in the study of prepositions is essential before fossilization occurs; it also motivates teachers to supplement their classes with refreshing activities and exercises that will give learners exposure to target writing since beginners.