ERRORS IN NIGERIAN SPORT NEWS REPORTS: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SPORTINGSUN EDITIONS OF 2017

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research work investigated errors in the Sportingsun newspaper editions of 2017 purposely to identify, give explanation, find out the frequency of occurrence, and explain the potential causes of the errors. Error analysis approach of Corder (1967) was adapted as the theoretical framework of the research work which includes identification, description, and explanation of errors. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Random selection of fifty newspapers of the months of September, August, and July were made. The study found diverse errors in the content of the newspapers that include wrong usages related to concord, definite and indefinite articles, noun phrase, tense, omitted verbs, redundancy, tautology, transposition of superlative/positive adverb, transposition of adjective/pronoun, wrong transformation of verb/adverb of manner, misuse of prepositions, appearance of irrelevant words in sentence, typographical errors, and faulty punctuations. Some of the causes of errors identified by the study are the hectic characteristic of news production, poor mastery of the English language, mother tongue interference, and poor typing and editing.