What is error? What is error analysis?

Describe
the types of error, source/cause of error.
Talim Enam Add Comment Error Analysis

Write the description and identification and the fields of errors. Discuss the
implication, significance and the limitations of error analysis.

Errors, committed by the second of foreign language learners, are an

inevitable part of language learning. Through making errors, and hearing the
correct forms from the teacher, learners can develop their skills. So errors
and their analysis is advantageous for both learners and teachers.

Definition of Error
The present researcher uses the term "error" to refer to a systematic deviation
from a selected norm or a set of norms of a target language. In Bangladeshi education
system, for instance, the selected norms “standard British English”.
However, the experts present various definitions of the single term “error”.
Basically those definitions contain the same meaning while the difference lies
only on the ways they formulate them.
Norrish(1987), to define the term, comments:
“…error is a systematic deviation, when a learner has not learnt something and consistently gets
it wrong”
Cunningworth(1987:87) remarks:
“Errors are systematic deviations from the norms of the language being learned.”

Here the phrase ‘systematic deviation’ means “the deviation which happens repeatedly”.

Difference between Error and Mistake:

Like an error a mistake is also a deviation of the norms of the language but
is not systematic. Norrish (1983:8) says that a mistake is an inconsistent
deviation that is sometimes the learner ‘gets it right’ but sometimes
wrong.Richards et.al (1985:95) state that mistake, made by a learner when
writing or speaking, is caused by lack of attention, fatigue, carelessness, or
other aspects of performance.
So we can say that a mistake is made by a learner because he does not
apply the rule (s) that he actually knows.

Definition of Error Analysis:

Error analysis is an activity to reveal errors committed by students both in
writing and speaking.
Richards et.al (1985:96) states:
“Error analysis is the study of errors made by the second and foreign language learners.”
Brown (1980:166) defines error analysis as:
“…the process to observe, analyze, and classify the deviations of the rules of the second
language and then to reveal the systems operated by learner.”

Crystal (1987:112) comments :

“…error analysis is a technique for identifying, classifying and systematically interpreting the
unacceptable forms produced by someone learning a foreign language, using any of the
principles and procedures provided by linguistics.”

Considering above definitions, we can say that- error analysis is an activity

to identify, describe, interpret,evaluate and prevent the errors made by the
learners.

Classification/types of Error:

Corder (1971) classifies “Errors” into two types such as:

1. ‘Errors of Competence’are the result of the application of the rules which do
not correspond to the target language norm. It occurs when SL/FL learners
do not know the rules of target language adequately.
2. ‘Errors of performance’ are the outcome of the mistakes in language such as
false starts or slips of the tongue. It happens when the learners suffer from
stress, indecision, conflict, fatigue etc.
Again “Errors of Competence’” are divided into two kinds:
1. ‘Interlingual Error: It depends on linguistic differences between the first
language and the target language, and is traditionally interpreted as
interference problem.
2. IntralingualError: It relates to a specific interpretation of the target language
and manifests itself as a universal phenomenon in any language learning
process. It is mainly overgeneralization found in both the first language and
the target language learning.

Burt and Kiparsky (1975) suggests fundamentally two types of error such as:
1. Local Error: It affects merely apart,clause or phrase, of a sentence.
2.Global Error: It affects the interpretation of the whole sentence.

Sources /Causes of Errors

In his “A Non-Contrastive Approach to Error Analysis”, Richards (1971:19-22) shows the

four main causes of errors.
1. Overgeneralization: Richards says that "Overgeneralization covers instances
where the learner creates a deviant structure on the basis of his experience
of other structures in thetarget language." A learner may write “She walked
fastly to catch the bus” because he already knows “He walked quickly to catch the train”
2. Incomplete application of rules: It involves a failure to fully develop a structure.
Thus learners are observed to use declarative word order in questions such
as “You like to play?” instead of “Do you like to play?”

3. False concepts hypothesized:It arises when the learners do not fully

comprehend a distinction in the target language, for example,the use
of ‘was’ as the marker of the past tense, as in the sentence “one day it was
happened”.

4. Ignorance of rule restriction:it involves the application of rules to contexts

where they do not apply. An example is “He made me to laugh” through
extinction of the pattern found with the majority of verbs that take infinitival
complements, for example, he asked/wanted / invited me to go.

Brown (1980:173-181) shows us the four sources of error. They are as follow
1. interlingual transfer, that is the negative influence of the mother tongue of
learner.
2. intralingual transfer, that is the incorrect generalization of rules within the
target language.
3. Context of learning, which overlaps both types of transfer, for example, the
classroom with its teacher and its materials. In a classroom context the
teacher or the textbook can lead the learner to make wrong generalization
about the language.
4. Communication strategies.Sometimes the communication strategies can lead
the student to make error. There are five main communication strategies,
namely-Avoidance,Prefabricated patterns, Cognitive and personality style,
Appeal to authority, and Language Switch.

Norrish (1983:21-26) classifies causes of error into three types which are:
1. Carelessness, the lack of motivation
2. First language interference with the habit formation of target language
3. Translation of idiomatic expression in to the target language word by word
Significance of Error Analysis (153)

Errors, both in first language and target language, are inevitable in the
language learning process. Errors, handled in error analysis, are significant
in three different ways.
Firstly, learners’ errors are significant to the teacher, as Corder (1987), the
forerunner of EA, explains:
“…to the teacher in that they (error) tell him (the teacher), if heundertakes a
systematic analysis, how far towards the goal the learner has progressed,
and consequently what remains for him (learner) to learn.”

Secondly, errors are important to the researcher as Corder(1987), remarks:

“…they provide to the researcher evidence of how language is learned or
acquired, what strategies or procedures the learner is employing in his
discovery of the language.”

Thirdly, errors are the most momentous to the student as Corder (1987),
comments:
“…they are indispensable to the learner himself, because we can regard the
making oferrors as a device the learner uses in order to learn.”
Identification of errors

To identify an error, we need to know what constitutes an “error” and to

establish a procedure how to recognize it. For this purpose, we can follow
four successive stages.
The first stage concerns what the “Error" is. It can be defined as a
systematic deviation from a selected norm or a set of norms of a target
language. In Bangladeshi education system, for instance, the selected norm
is “standard British English”. For example the sentence “He coped up with
his problems very well” is incorrect according to British norm but correct in
Zambian English.
The second question concerns the distinction between “errors and mistakes”.
An error takes place when the deviation arises as result of lack of
knowledge. It,in fact, represents a lack of competence. A mistake usually
occurs when learners fail to perform their competence.Corder argues that
the Error Analysis should be restricted to only “Study of Errors” and
mistakes should be eliminated from the analysis.
The third question concerns, as Corder (1971) says, whether the error is ‘overt’
or ‘covert’. An overt error is easy to identify because there is a clear
deviation in structure, as when a learner says:
“I runned all the way”.

On the other hand a covert error occurs in utterances that superficially well-
form but which do not mean what the learner intended them to mean. For
example, the utterance (from Corder 1971):
“It was stopped.”

is apparently grammatical until it becomes clear that ‘it’ refers to the ‘wind’.

The fourthstage concerns weather the analysis should examine only

deviations in ‘correctness’ or also deviations in ‘appropriateness’. The former
involves rules of usage and later one involves rules of language use.

Description of errors
A number of different categories for describing errors have been identified.
But Dulay, Burt and Krashen(1982) categorize and describe the idea most
clearly. To them, errors fall into four categories:
1. Omission: it is the absence of an item that must appear in a well formed
utterance for example, to say “She * sleeping”.
2. Addition: it is the presence of an item that must not appear in a well
formed utterance for example, to say “He retuned backthere”.
3. Misinformation: it is the use of the wrong form of the morpheme or
structure for example, to say “the dogeatedthe chicken”.
4. Misordering: it is the incorrect placement of a morpheme or a group of
morphemes in an utterance such as “What he is doing?”

According toCordererrors fall into four categories:

1.omission of some required element;
2.addition of some unnecessary or incorrect element;
3. selection of an incorrect element; and
4.misordering of the elements.

Limitations/draw backs of Error Analysis:

Dr. M. Maniruzzaman points out four major limitations of Error analysis.
They are given bellow
1.Cordr’s distinction between errors of competence and errors of
performance is by no mean clear-cut as for example:

He induced me to John (intended:introduced)

In this case, the verb form used is found to be an error of performance
because of syllabic deletion or an error of competence because of phonetic
similarity.

2. It is very difficult to make a distinction between interlingual and

intralingual deviations from SL/FL norm, because it remains unclear which
operating principle SL/FL learners in fact uses for instance:

There are many snakes in the garden (intended: snails)

In this case, the operating principle applied may be interlingual or
intralingual or even both.

3 Error analysis hardly goes by any insights into the course of the second
language learning process. For example, error analysis is restricted by
definition to what the learner cannot do.

4. The first step in nearly all error analyses is compiling a corpus of SL/FL
utterances. The second stage is isolating the error in such a corpus. After
the second stage the attention is usually entirely focused on what the
learner cannot do but no attention is paid to what the learner can do.

Fields of Error:
The very common errors the SL/FL learners usually commit are given
bellow:
1. Wrong choice of words, usually occurs as a result of learners poor range
of vocabulary. For example, one can say “He performed a sin” instead of
saying “He committed a sin”.

2. Incorrect use of Number, such as one may say “Brush your tooths”
instead of “teeth”.

3. Error in Tense usually occurs as a result of the influence of mother tongue

on the target language such as “He has gone yesterday”.

4. Error in Spelling, usually happen as a result of learners lack of attention

as well as the inherent difficulties of the target language. For example, one
may write the word ‘Embarrassment’ as “Embarassment”since he knows the
spelling of the word “Harassment”

5. Error in Voice usually happens as a result of overgeneralization such as

one can say “He was died in 1985”as he uses “He was born”.

6. Error in Article, a very common error found in SL/FL learners, includes

error like “He is * richest person”, “He is a honest man” or “This is an unique
idea”.

7. Error in Preposition deals with misuse of preposition or using one in place

of other such as: “He discussed about the matter” or “He is blind of his
son”.

8. Error in Auxiliary verb usually found such as to say “politics are playing a
dominant role in our society.” Here the auxiliary verb should be is as
‘politics’ is singular.

9. Wrong use of connectors is often seen in the SL/FL learners such as “He is
a meritorious student and his handwriting is illegible”.Here the connector
should be “but” instead of “and”.

10. Error in capitalization is a very significant as usually SL/ FL learners

tend to neglect it such as “Keats’ ‘ode on a grecian urn’ is a famous poem”. Here
“Ode, Grecian and Urn” must be capitalized.

At the end of our discussion, we can say that committing error is a general
tendency for the second or foreign language learners. The proper analysis of
the error can be very much helpful for the students in reducing error in their
writing or speaking. So, errors and their analysis demand a keen
concentrationin the teaching of a second language.

Works Cited
Brown, H.D. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. 4th. New York: Longman, 2000.
Corder, S.P. Error analysis and interlanguage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1987.
Dr. M Maniruzzaman. "The contribution of Error Analysis to Second/Foreign Language
Learning and
Teaching ." Critique vol.1. Department of English, Islamic university, Kushtia(2003): 31-46.
Norrish, J. Language Learning and their Errors. London: Macmillan Publisher Ltd. 1987.

This paper is prepared for you by Talim Enam, BA (Hons), MA in English.

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Error Analysis
Question:
Submitted by Imane Begag, Algeria
How does error analysis explain the foreign language learners’ errors?

Dr Richards responds:
Some features of learner language
The language learners produce when they are learning English reflects many different
factors, such as their stage of grammatical development, the kind of communication they
are engaged in, and the learner’s first language as well as the strategies the learner is
making use of in communication. The result may be language that is sometimes inaccurate
or inappropriate. Identifying the factors that contribute to the characteristics of learner
discourse began in earnest with the field of error analysis in the 1970s, developing into what
is referred to as second language acquisition today. The following processes are often
referred to, although it is not always possible to assign a feature of learner English
unambiguously to a specific cause.
Language transfer
Transfer is the effect of one language on the learning of another. Positive transfer occurs
when both the native language and English have the same form or linguistic feature. It
makes learning easier and does not result in errors. Both French and English have the
word table which means the same thing in both languages. Languages may share aspects
of grammar such as some patterns of word order and the use of adverbs and these may
allow for positive transfer. Negative transfer or interference is the use of a native-language
pattern or rule that leads to an error or inappropriate form in the target language. For
example a French learner of English may produce I am here since Thursday instead of I
have been here since Thursday because of the transfer of the French pattern Je suis ici
depuis Jeudi and I like very much coffee instead of I like coffee very much transferring the
pattern J’aime beaucoup le café. The following sentences show the result of transfer from
Spanish:
What understand the children?
Can the director to speak with me now?
Will not to watch TV the boys tonight?
Learners with some language backgrounds such as German are likely to have relatively
few difficulties learning how to use definite and indefinite articles in English because
German has a similar article system to English. Japanese learners on the other hand find
the English article system difficult because Japanese does not have a similar article system
to English. An attempt to predict the linguistic difficulties of English by comparing the
grammar of English with the grammar of other languages resulted in an activity known
as contrastive analysis in the 1970s.
Overgeneralization
This process refers to extending the use of a form to an inappropriate context by analogy.
This is a normal and natural process and both learners of English as a second language as
well as children learning it as a first language often extend the use of grammatical rules to
contexts where they do not occur, as in I breaked the vase. We goes to the beach. Other
examples of overgeneralization are seen in the following:
Under no circumstances we will accept these terms.
They didn’t like it; not I liked it.
She was unhappy at the development: so I was.
Now I see why did they behave like that.
Sometimes overgeneralization may mean over-using a grammatical form such as the –ing
form, as with these examples;
I don’t know why people always talking me.
Yesterday I didn’t working.
A common form of overgeneralization is seen when learners attempt to make irregular
verbs fit regular patterns, as with break above and also with cases such
as seened (for saw), ated (for ate) , and wented (for went).
Simplification
This occurs when learners reduce a complex aspect of grammar to a much simpler set of
rules and reflects a process that is used when messages need to be conveyed with limited
language resources. For example instead of making the distinction between “he” and “she”
the learner may use the masculine pronoun, or instead of distinguishing between first and
third person in verbs (I like, She likes) the learner may use the first person rule for all
persons (I like, He/ She like). Ortega notes that it is common in the early stages of language
learning and particularly in naturalistic learning situations. Simplification of aspects of
grammar such as questions tags occurs in some varieties of English. In colloquial
Singapore English for example, one encounters:
That was your sister, is it?
You are from the States, is it?
Underuse
Sometimes learners may underuse a form they have studied and practiced many times. For
example the learner may avoid using some constructions with if- (If I had known I would
have told her about it) and use instead I didn’t know so I didn’t tell her, because it appears
to them as more direct and easy to understand.
Overuse: at other times a learner may become over-dependent on certain grammatically
correct forms and use them in preference to other forms that might be known and available.
For example the learner may become dependent on a phrase such as last time to refer to
past events and use it when other ways of referring to past time could have been used:
I like Thai food. I tried it last time.
I know her. We met last time.
Fossilization
Sometimes a learner’s grammatical development appears to have stopped at a certain level
and recurring errors of both grammar and pronunciation have become permanent features
of a learner’s speech. This is referred to as fossilization. Fossilization refers to the
persistence of errors in a learner’s speech despite progress in other areas of language
development. For example here are a few examples of fossilized errors in an adult fluent
speaker of English who uses English regularly and effectively, though often with a high
frequency of what we might regard as basic grammatical and other errors.
I doesn’t understand what she wanted.
He never ask me for help.
Last night I watch TV till 2 am.
She say she meeting me after work.
Fossilized errors such as those above tend not to affect comprehension although they might
be stigmatised due to the fact that they often reflect errors that are typical of very basic-level
learners (such as omission of 3rd person “s). Since fossilized errors do not generally trigger
misunderstanding and hence do not prompt a clarification request from the listener, the
learner may simple never notice them or be aware that they are there. The noticing
hypothesis (see below) suggests that unless the speaker notices such errors, it is unlikely
that he or she will correct them.
When teachers begin to notice common features of learner language and features that
appear to be fossilized. they need to decide, whether to address them or whether to accept
them as evidence of learning.