大學英語寫作是檢驗大學生英語實際運用能力的一種重要方法,是衡量大學生英語綜合水平和應用能力的一個重要指標,也是大學英語四級考試的一個重要內容。但從全國大學英語四級考試的情況來看,學生寫作部分的平均得分率一直最低。這反映出大學生英語寫作能力相對薄弱。從某種程度上來看,這一現象歸因於兩個主要因素:1. 學生英語寫作能力的開發滯後;2. 學生寫作能力出現石化現象。這兩種主要症狀清晰地反映在學生的作文中。
1. 單詞拼寫錯誤
例1. (誤) I am writting a letter in reply to you.
(正) I am writing a letter in reply to you.
例2. (誤) You said you wanted to come to my colege.
(正) You said you wanted to come to my college.
例3. (誤) You must have some probelems.
(正) You must have some problems.
例句1 是字母新增錯誤,即把不該雙寫的字母雙寫了;而例句2 是字母減略錯誤,即把雙寫的字母拼寫成單寫;例句3 是典型的語音變異型錯誤,為加音錯誤。這些錯誤均發生在單詞的非重讀音節中,這說明音響的強度對單詞的拼寫有相當程度的影響。
2. 時態方面的錯誤
寫議論文一般用現在時態。只有舉例，提到過去的事才會用到過去時。
3 主謂，人稱等違反一致性方面的錯誤
寫一個句子，乃至一篇文章里人稱始終要保持一致，不能一會兒用第三人稱，一會兒又用第一人稱。
4 修飾語的位置錯誤
a) Without television, people can’t get information which comes from other parts of the world immediately.
Immediately既可以修飾 comes：“得到迅速從各方面傳來的訊息”，也可以修飾 get：“迅速得到從各方面傳來的訊息”，意思含糊不清，所以要把它放到can’t的'後面。
b) To participate in class discussion, a lot of books have to be read.
不定式短語的邏輯主語決不是o lot of books，為了把邏輯關係表達清楚，要麼把不定式短語改成 If one wants to participate in class discussion，要麼把主句改成you have to read a lot of books。
5. 語法結構平行方面的錯誤
a) With the computer, one can do shopping, banking, and read at home.
用語法平行結構原則來衡量。前面用ing 形式，最後一個用動詞原形 read是不妥的， 為了和 do shopping, do banking保持結構上平行，接下來的一個內容要用 reading。
b) Participating in class discussion is not only good for the pursuit of knowledge, and through it we can also develop our analytical skills.
同樣， 在說同樣的事時， 相鄰的句子在語法結構上儘可能要保持一致。後半句宜改為：It is also beneficial to the development of our analytical skills。
6. 代詞用法方面的錯誤
a) Sometimes teachers will inform students of the difficulty they will meet with in studies.
They既可以指代 teachers，也可以代students，明顯的是指代不清。 其實只要把其中的一個名詞變成單數，用 he和 they 分別代不同的名詞就清楚了。如：Sometimes a teacher will inform students of the difficulty they will meet with in studies.
b) People have been fighting against the influence of TV commercials, but it often proves useless.
It指什麼?指 influence ，在often proves useless句子中顯然不通。作者知道 it指人們的努力， 但 effort這個詞前面沒有出現過，就不能用it，所以要把 it改成 the effort。
7. 可數名詞與不可數名詞方面的錯誤
information, evidence, advice, knowledge等是不可數名詞，不能用複數。many, a great number of, another, few等只能與可數名詞配用。而 a great amount of, a great deal of, less, much等須與不可數名詞配用。
8. 冠詞方面的錯誤
a) Book knowledge is important, but we should also learn something in the society.
b) When I was in the high school, I always had a beautiful picture of the college life.
在沒有特指意義時，不能用表示特指的定冠詞The。這幾句中的the都應去掉。
c) There is a lot of discussion in the class.
表示上課，用手，走路，上學，住院等都不用定冠詞：In class, by hand, on foot, go to college, at hospital。
9.句子完整方面的錯誤
a) TV now plays an important role in our daily life. Because we cannot live without it.
中文用“因為”引出的句子可以獨立， 而英文不行，用Because, since, as從句，只能附屬主句：because we cannot live without it。
b) There are many ways to contact with society. For example, joining clubs, take part time jobs and help the poor.
For example 引出的應是句子：For example we may join clubs, take part time jobs and help the poor. 而Such as引出的只能是詞或片語，不能獨立成句： Such as joining clubs, taking part time jobs and helping the poor.
c) Unlike the movie, TV shows on continuously, and doesn’t need to pay any extra money.
Doesn’t need to pay any extra money的主語是什麼? 顯然不是TV。漢語可以說：電視可以一直看下去，無需再花什麼錢。將主語省去，但英語一定要有明顯的主語，所以在 doesn’t need to pay any extra money 前要加上one。
d) Reading books can acquire knowledge.
