LEXICAL AND STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY IN EFL STUDENTS’ ESSAY WRITING: A SEMANTIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

Ambiguity is a linguistic phenomenon in which a word, phrase, or sentence conveys more than one possible meaning, potentially causing misunderstanding in written communication. In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing, students often experience difficulty producing clear and precise sentences. This study investigates lexical and structural ambiguity in EFL students’ cause-and-effect essays from a semantic perspective. Using a qualitative descriptive design, data were collected from 20 essays written by fourth-semester students of the English Education Department at Universitas Muhammadiyah Kotabumi. The data were analyzed by identifying ambiguous expressions, classifying them into lexical and structural ambiguity, and interpreting their possible meanings. The findings revealed 48 instances of ambiguity, consisting of 18 cases of lexical ambiguity (37.5%) and 30 cases of structural ambiguity (62.5%). Structural ambiguity occurred more frequently, indicating that students experienced greater difficulty constructing clear and grammatically appropriate sentence structures. The ambiguities were mainly associated with limited grammatical competence, insufficient vocabulary knowledge, and inadequate awareness of sentence clarity. These findings highlight the importance of strengthening grammar instruction and vocabulary development to improve clarity in EFL writing. Furthermore, it provides pedagogical insights into common ambiguity patterns that can inform writing instruction and feedback strategies to enhance students’ academic writing skills.