A Brief Explanation of Error Analysis

Contrastive analysis,
error analysis,
interlanguage
(1) There are also two deserts.

(2) I bought a couple of towel.
(3) So, when I like to park my car, there is no place to put it, and how
many ticket I took.
(4) There is many kind of way you make baklawa.
(5) The streets run from east to west, the avenues from north to south.
(6) Just a few month he will finish from his studies.
(7) I go to university four days a week.
(8) Egypt shares its boundaries with the Mediterranean.
(9) There is a lot of mosquito.
(10)Many people have ideas about Jeddah and other cities located in
Saudi Arabia.
(11)When he complete nine month
(12)He can spend 100 years here in America.
(13)There are about one and a half-million inhabitant in Jeddah.
(14)How many month or years have been in his mind?
(15)There are many tentsand goats running around.
(16)There are two mountains.
(17)How many hour?
(18)There are more than 100,000 telephone lines.
(1) There are also two deserts.

(2) I bought a couple of towel.
(3) So, when I like to park my car, there is no place to put it, and how
many ticket I took.
(4) There is many kind of way you make baklawa.
(5) The streets run from east to west, the avenues from north to south.
(6) Just a few month he will finish from his studies.
(7) I go to university four days a week.
(8) Egypt shares its boundaries with the Mediterranean.
(9) There is a lot of mosquito.
(10)Many people have ideas about Jeddah and other cities located in
Saudi Arabia.
(11)When he complete nine month
(12)He can spend 100 years here in America.
(13)There are about one and a half-million inhabitant in Jeddah.
(14)How many month or years have been in his mind?
(15)There are many tentsand goats running around.
(16)There are two mountains.
(17)How many hour?
(18)There are more than 100,000 telephone lines.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
Hes sleeping.
Dink the coffee (=He is drinking coffee)
Its raining.
The dog eating (=The dog is eating)
Hani watch TV (=Hani is watching TV)
Shes sleeping.
Read the paper. (=He is reading the paper)
Watch TV. (=He is watching TV)
Hes eating.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
Hes sleeping.
Dink the coffee (=He is drinking coffee)
Its raining.
The dog eating (=The dog is eating)
Hani watch TV (=Hani is watching TV)
Shes sleeping.
Read the paper. (=He is reading the paper)
Watch TV. (=He is watching TV)
Hes eating.
One day an Indian gentleman, a snake charmer, arrived in

England by plane. He was coming from Bombay with two
pieces of luggage. The big of them contained a snake. A
man and a little boy was watching him in the customs
area. The man said to the little boy: Go and speak with
this gentleman. When the little boy was speaking with the
traveller, the thief took the big suitcase and went out
quickly. When the victim saw that he cried Help me! Help
me! A thief! A thief! The policeman was in this corner
whistle but it was too late. The two thieves escape with the
big suitcase, took their car and went in the traffic. They
passed near a zoo and stop in a forest. There they had a
big surprise. The basket contain a big snake.
[French native speaker]
One day an Indian gentleman, a snake charmer, arrived in

England by plane. He was coming from Bombay with two
pieces of luggage. The bigger of them contained a snake. A
man and a little boy were watching him in the customs area.
The man said to the little boy: Go and speak with this
gentleman. When the little boy was speaking with the
traveller, the thief took the big suitcase and went out quickly.
When the victim saw that he cried Help me! Help me! A
thief! A thief! The policeman, who was in this corner,
whistled but it was too late. The two thieves escaped with
the big suitcase, took their car and went into the traffic. They
passed near a zoo and stoped in a forest. There they had a
big surprise. The basket contain a big snake.
[French native speaker]
Contrastive analysis
stimulus
cognitive system
response
Learning is a process of habit formation.

Learning involves: 1. imitation
2. practice
3. reinforcement
Learning is a cumulative process. The more knowledge
and skills an individual acquires, the more likely it
becomes that his new learning will be shaped by his past
experiences and activities. An adult rarely, if ever, learns
anything completely new; however, unfamiliar the task
that confronts him, the information and habits he has built
up in the past will be his point of departure. Thus transfer
of training from old to new situations is part and parcel of
most, if not all, learning. In this sense the study of transfer
is coextensive with the investigation of learning.
[Postman 1971]
Contrastive analysis is based on the theoretical assumptions
of behaviorism.
If L2 acquisition is disturbed by the habits of your native
language, it is reasonable to focus on the differences
between native and target language.
In the US, contrastive analysis had a practical goal: If you
recognize the differences between your native language
and the target language, you are able to overcome the
linguistic habits of your native language that interfere with
the habits of the target language.
Since even languages as closely related as German and

English differ significantly in the form, meaning and
distribution of their grammatical structures, and since the
learner tends to transfer the habits of his native language
structure to the foreign language, we have here the major
source of difficulty or ease in learning the structure of a
foreign language. Those structures that are similar will be
easy to learn because they will be transferred and may
function satisfactorily in the foreign language. Those
structures that are different will be difficult because when
transferred they will not function satisfactorily in the foreign
language and will therefore have to be changed.
[Lado 1957]
Two types of transfer:

1. Positive transfer
2. Negative transfer
Critique of contrastive analysis:
The process of L2 acquisition is not sufficiently

described by the characterization of errors
Errors in L2 acquisition do not only arise from

interference.
The structural differences between two languages

are not sufficient to predict the occurrence of
errors in L2 acquisition.
(1) a. I saw Pascal and Jean.
b. Je vois Pascal et Jean.
SVO
SVO
(2) a. I saw them.

b. Je les vois.
SVO
SOV
(3) a. *Je vois elle.

I see them.
b. Le chien a mang les.
The dog has eaten them.
Engl. learner
(4) a. I them saw.

b. The dog them has eaten.
Fr. learner
Error analysis
Pit Corder (1967) The significance of learners errors.
L2 acquisition should not be looked at from a

purely pedagogical perspective.
Errors in L2 are interesting because they

reflect underlying linguistic rules.
The study of L2 can be seen as a subfield of

general linguistics or cognitive science.
Error analysis
Error analysis
Pedagogical orientation
Scientific orientation
Error analysis
Error analysis
Focus on input, practice,

inductive learning
Focus on linguistic and

cognitive processes
Error analysis
Error analysis
Focus on input, practice,

inductive learning
Focus on linguistic and

cognitive processes
Errors of transfer
Multiple types of errors
Interlanguage
Larry Selinker (1972): A second language is not an

imperfect copy of the target language but a rulegoverned linguist system in its own right.
Rod Ellis (1990):
A learners interlanguage is a linguistic system.
A learners interlanguage consists primarily of

implicit linguistic knowledge.
A learners interlanguage is permeable.
A learners interlanguage is transitional.
A learners interlanguage is variable.
A learners interlanguage is the product of

multiple interacting forces: transfer, general
learning mechanisms, input.
A learners interlanguage may fossilize.
Typology of errors
interlingual errors vs. intralingual errors.

errors vs. mistakes
semantic vs. syntactic vs. semantic
Typology of errors
Surface structure taxonomy:
omissions
additions
a. regularizations (e.g. eated)
b. double marking (e.g. I didnt came)
archi forms (e.g. Peter said me should come)
ordering (e.g. She fights all the time her
brother)
blends (e.g. The only one thing I want)

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Contrastive analysis,

(1) There are also two deserts.

(1) There are also two deserts.

One day an Indian gentleman, a snake charmer, arrived in

One day an Indian gentleman, a snake charmer, arrived in

Learning is a process of habit formation.

Since even languages as closely related as German and

Two types of transfer:

Critique of contrastive analysis:

The process of L2 acquisition is not sufficiently

Errors in L2 acquisition do not only arise from

The structural differences between two languages

(2) a. I saw them.

(3) a. *Je vois elle.

(4) a. I them saw.

L2 acquisition should not be looked at from a

Errors in L2 are interesting because they

The study of L2 can be seen as a subfield of

Focus on input, practice,

Focus on linguistic and

Focus on input, practice,

Focus on linguistic and

Multiple types of errors

Larry Selinker (1972): A second language is not an

Rod Ellis (1990):

A learners interlanguage is a linguistic system.

A learners interlanguage consists primarily of

A learners interlanguage is permeable.

A learners interlanguage is transitional.

A learners interlanguage is variable.

A learners interlanguage is the product of

A learners interlanguage may fossilize.

interlingual errors vs. intralingual errors.

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