Mistakes and feedback A Students make mistakes

1983

European Journal of Teaching and Education

Second/Foreign language learning is a complex process. People who learn a language other than their home language often commit errors because they learn in an unnatural way. Scholars mention that some errors originate from mother tongue interferences and this phenomenon results in inter-lingual errors. Other errors are made as a result of the unfamiliarity with the target language when learners are trying to cope with the new language, internalising some concepts. Scholars also highlight those errors can be stabilised and even fossilised. Stabilised errors are errors that can be corrected provided learners have enough exposure to the new language. Nevertheless, errors’ fossilisation impacts on the whole language process as learners never know the correct way of using it. The present paper reviews the most common errors and their causes and discusses them from a theoretical standpoint. It also analyses contextual factors that have an impact on errors. Next, the paper emphasises the r...

Error correction and its importance in the foreign language classroom have received considerable attention during the past decades. According to Corder (1967), correcting learners' errors is substantial in three different ways: First, they tell the teacher about the progress of the learner, and therefore what remains to be learnt. Second, they supply evidence of how a language is acquired and what strategies the learner employs in learning a language. Thirdly, they are indisputable to the learning process because making errors is regarded as a device the learner uses in order to learn. The present paper aims at highlighting fundamental background studies done in the field of Error Analysis. It also tries to help EFL teachers and educators to become familiar with the most frequent errors committed by EFL learners and lead language practicioners to consider some very imporatant issues about understanding the significance of Error Correction in the process of second language acquisition such as: how much correction should be made, at what phases the teacher should correct the error and how the teacher can correct the learner without de-motivating him/her. I. Introduction: Error correction is seen as a form of feedback given to learners on their language use. No teacher can deny the fact that correcting the errors made by students when they speak or write is one of the most difficult tasks in language acquisition.Thus, every language practicioner or teachr should consider some the following issues about error correction: the difference between a mistake and an error, how much correction should be made, at what phases the teacher should correct the error and how the teacher can correct the learner without de-motivating him/her. One crucial point in the field of Error Correction is to know the nature of learning a foreign or second language, i.e, how do we learn a second language? We have to investigate what happens in the mind of human beings through mental process to learn a language. In this respect, two phenomena have been distinguished by the American linguist Krashen (1987) when he clearly distinguished between: first language acquisition and second language learning. Different schools appeared in linguistics and psycholinguistics whose aim was to analyse learners' errors and to decipher their sources.Among those schools, we find the structural behaviouristic school and the transformational generative grammarians. Contrastive analysis (CA) and error analysis (EA) have been regarded as the two main pillars in the domain of second and foreign language learning. Generally, as Keshavarz (1999, p. 11) stated, "…there have been two major approaches to the study of learners' errors, namely Contrastive Analysis and Error Analysis." He further discussed that, "Error Analysis emerged on account of the shortcomings of Contrastive Analysis which was the favored way of describing learners' language in the 1950s and 1960s" (p. 42). The process involved in CA is the comparison of learners' mother tongue and the target language. Based on the similarities or differences between two languages, predictions were made on errors that learners would be likely or disposed to make as a result (Kim, 2001). Unlike CA which tries to describe differences and similarities of L1 and L2, James (1998 cited in Kim, 2001) stated that, EA attempts to describe learners' interlanguage (i.e. learners' version of the target language) independently and objectively. He believed that the most distinct feature of EA is that the mother tongue is not supposed to be mentioned for comparison. The purpose of Error Analysis is, in fact, to find " what the learner knows and does not know" and to " ultimately enable the teacher to supply him not just with the information that his hypothesis is wrong, but also, importantly, with the right sort of information or data for him to form a more adequate concept of a rule in the target language" (Corder, 1974, p. 170). The primary concern of this study is to explore the kinds of errors made by a group of Algerian EFL learners at university level in their written and oral expressions. More specifically, the study seeks to answer the following question: What are the most common errors that Algerian students commit in their written and oral expressions? 2. Lietrature Review: 2.1. First Language Acquisition versus Second Language Learning: Applied linguistics is the attempt to put the insights resulting from lingusic reseach to practical uses. These include first and second language teaching (Such as: lexicography, translation….etc). Our focus of linguistic application is the field of language teaching which focuses in turn on the learner and the language learning process. How is this language which is the object of study of the linguist being learnt? We have to investigate what happens in the mind of human beings through mental processes to learn a language. In this respect, two phenomena have been distinguished Krashen (1987) when he talked about: first language acquisition and second language learning First language acquisition: The term acquistion is ued to reffer to subconscious learning which is not influenced by explicit instruction about the L2 system or about errors against the L2 rule system. It takes place in a natural environment. Language data is not arranged as in a language teaching situation. The infant is exposd to an

2021

This study examines written errors in a corpus of 30 compositions produced by 15 students of English as a second language (L2), whose first language (L1) is Spanish. Their ages range from 10 to 11. This paper identifies grammar errors as the most frequent due to L1’s interference in L2 learning. Positive, focused, indirect written feedback is proven to be the most effective, and the L1 seems to help the students to understand the teacher’s metalinguistic explanation to correct errors and avoid mistakes. These results provide insight into language learning given that they offer information regarding the teaching practice.

Attitudes towards errors in language learning are changing as a result of recent contributions coming from the field of pedagogical grammar, which take into consideration notions of error analysis, contrastive analysis and the study of interlanguage. Errors, we argue, should be considered as opportunities to develop learners' language awareness to further their learning, and as instances for teachers to design more effective remedial work. Through the analysis of a learner's written assignment,

Error Analysis is one of the major topics in the field of second language acquisition research. Errors are an integral part of language learning. The learner of English as a second language is unaware of the existence of the particular system or rule in English language. The learner's errors have long been interested for second and foreign language researchers. The basic task of error analysis is to describe how learning occurs by examining the learner's output and this includes his/her correct and incorrect utterances. There are two major approaches to the study of learner's errors, namely contrastive analysis and error analysis. Error analysis cannot be studied properly without touching upon the notion of contrastive analysis. Contrastive analysis and error analysis have been commonly recognized as branches of Applied Linguistic Science. This paper examines in detail the three most influential error theories: Contrastive analysis, Error analysis and Interlanguage theory. Corder (1978) maintains that interlanguage can be seen as a restructuring or a recreating continuum and, therefore; evaluates their role in second language acquisition.

1975

While it is strongly believed that students' errors must be handled properly, it is crucial to note that teachers and students may have different perspectives upon the effective strategies to deal with the students' errors, particularly in oral production. Hence, this research is focused on comparing the teacher and student preferences for error correction and feedback in speaking activities. This is a kind of survey research, where data were collected from all lecturers of Speaking subject – there were four – and all students taking the subjects of Speaking for General Purposes and Speaking for Academic Purposes presented in the first and third semester repectively. Data which were primarily collected through questionnaire were, then, analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Based on the analysis, it was revealed that there is a discrepancy among teachers and students in terms of beliefs about the relative importance of speaking features and preferences for error correction techniques in speaking activities. A. Rationale " A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake " (Confucius in Harmer, 2004:108). It means that it is humane to make a mistake, but we must not make the same mistake for the second time, so we have to be aware of our mistake and make some necessary correction in order that we will not do the same mistake in the future. In the context of English Language Teaching (ELT), students are encouraged to do trial and error. They are put in such a condition that they have to practice using the target language regardless of the deviations they may make as the primary goal of language learning is to enable the students to use the language as a means of communication. It means that they have to practice using the language to convey the message either in spoken or in written form to make them acquire the goal, that is communicative competence (Brown, 2001:69). Furthermore, it is believed that making mistakes is a process to make progress. It is the step stone to have a better understanding of concept and language skills. Dulay et al. (1982:138) assert that making error is an inevitable part of learning. People cannot learn language without first systematically committing errors. In other words, without making mistakes, it is impossible for the students to reach success in language learning. Therefore, English teacher must be able to convince his/her students that committing errors is a natural part of the learning process. Students commonly make mistakes when they are learning a new language item. Even though it has been explained in detail and regularly practiced, still, students can make mistakes. Unquestionably, errors and mistakes will always occur. Thus, error correction is important for students to make them aware of their misconception of a certain language rule and improve their language production. Errors and their correction can be used to help students consolidate their knowledge of a language point and to foster good learning habits (Pollard, 2008:60).

by numerous studies, which concluded that negative transfer was the cause of a relatively small proportion of errors in language learning. Learners' first languages are no longer believed to interfere with their attempts to acquire a second language grammar, and language teachers no longer need to create special grammar lessons for students from each language background.

The aim of this paper is to investigate errors made by second and foreign language (L2) learners so as to understand the strategies and techniques used in the process of second and foreign language learning. Error analysis is a very important area of applied linguistics as well as of second and foreign language learning. It is also a systematic method to analyze learners' errors. Errors are not always bad, rather they are crucial parts and aspects in the process of learning a language. They may provide insights into the complicated processes of language development as well as a systematic way for identifying, describing and explaining students' errors. Errors may also help to better understand the process of second and foreign language acquisition. This study tries to investigate why Pakistani ESL and Iranian EFL learners fail to produce grammatically correct sentences in English, in spite of having English as a compulsory subject at all levels in their learning institutions and schools. What are the reasons for their poor English written performance? In the present study, the writing assignments of university students as well as intermediate English learners were analyzed for the purpose of error analysis. Results of the analysis suggest that students lack grammatical accuracy in their writing and are not sure of the grammatical rules that may apply in their writing in English. The study concludes that they are highly influenced by the rules of their first language (L1).