Ambiguity in Chinese College Students’ L2 Tertiary-Level Writing: A Thematic Analysis

The current study investigated ambiguity errors that characterise the L2 tertiary-level writing of Chinese college students. Data were drawn from 56 authentic English writings 11 students different disciplines across 10 institutions. A thematic analysis was conducted to examine error patterns at lexical and syntactic levels. Lexical ambiguities found include Chinglish, ambiguous references, abstractions, consist misplaced dangling modifiers. It also far exceeded ambiguity. results demonstrate as a foreign language (EFL) students’ limited linguistic competence struggle with accurate production. This aims draw attention unpreparedness EFL for need support in their written output. Given increasing demand academic writing, clarity is great significance Whereas resolution input has received much scholarly attention, empirical research been on Therefore, fill this gap by examining students, thus informing future teaching.