LEARNER ERRORSDescribing Learner LanguageAn important area in the study of second language (L2) acquisition is the language that learners produce at different stages of their development. Learner language can provide the researcher with insights into the process of acquisition.For many researchers, although not all, it constitutes the most important source of information about how learners learn an L2.Ellis (1997), provides a number of different approaches to the description of learner language which can be identified as:• the study of learners’ errors;• the study of developmental patterns;• the study of variability; and• the study of pragmatic features.

Describing Learner Language Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis:Learners were strongly influenced by their L1. Where the L1 matched the L2, learning was facilitated; where it differed, learning was impeded. In the view of some (Lado, 1957), errors were mainly, if not entirely, the result of transfer of L1 ‘habits’.This theory of learning was challenged both by Chomsky’s (1958), attack on behaviourism and also by research on L1 acquisition, which showed that children did not seem to learn their mother tongue as a set of ‘habits’ but rather seemed to construct mental ‘rules’, which often bore no resemblance to those evident in their caretakers’ speech.

LEARNER ERRORS TASKIn groups discuss the following questions :

Are learners’ errors the result of L1 transfer?

Do L2 learners, like L1 learners, construct unique mental ‘rules’?

LEARNER ERRORSOne of the first ways in which researchers tried to investigate L2 acquisition was through the analysis of learner errors.Much of the early work on learner errors focused on determining the extent to which L2 acquisition was the result of L1 transfer or of creative construction (the construction of unique rules similar to those which children form in the course of acquiring their mother tongue).The presence of errors that mirrored L1 structures was taken as evidence of transfer, while the presence of errors similar to those observed in L1 acquisition was indicative of creative construction.

LEARNER ERRORSThe results of error analyses were used to refute behaviourist views of L2 learning, which were dominant at the time. According to them, L2 learning took place in the same way as any other kind of learning, it involved procedures such as imitation, repetition, and reinforcement, which enabled learners to develop ‘habits’ of the L2.The study of learner errors showed that although many errors were caused by transferring L1 ‘habits’, many more were not; learners often contributed creatively to the process of learning. They also indicated that learners appeared to go through stages of acquisition, as the nature of the errors they made varied according to their level of development.

LEARNER ERRORSCorder (1974) suggests the following steps in Error Analysis (EA) research:

LEARNERERRORS(a) Collection of a Sample of Learner LanguageThe starting point in EA is deciding what samples of learner language to use for the analysis and how to collect these samples.A massive sample involves collecting several samples of language use from a large number of learners in order to compile a comprehensive list of errors, representative of the entire population.A specific sample consists of one sample of language use collected from a limited number of learners.Incidental sample involves only one sample of language use produced by a single learner.

LEARNER ERRORS

LEARNER ERRORS(b) Identification of ErrorsFirstly a corpus of learner language is collected; the errors in the corpus are identified. It is necessary to decide, therefore, what constitutes an ‘error’ and to establish a procedure for recognising one.An error can be defined as a deviation from the norms of the target language, however this definition raises a number of questions.Firstly, the question of which variety of the target language should serve as the norm or standard.A second question concerns the distinction between errors and mistake.An error (in this technical sense) takes place when the deviation arises as a result of lack of knowledge. It represents a lack of competence. A mistake occurs when learners fail to perform their competence.

LEARNER ERRORS(b) Identification of ErrorsA third question concerns whether the error is overt or covert .An overt error is easy to identify because there is a clear deviation in form, as when a learner says:“I runned all the way.”A covert error occurs in utterances that are superficially well-formed but which do not mean what the learner intended them to mean. For example, the utterance from (Corder, 1971 a):“It was stopped.”is apparently grammatical until it becomes clear that “it” refers to “the wind”.

LEARNER ERRORS(b) Identification of ErrorsA fourth question concerns whether the analysis should examine only deviations in correctness or also deviations in appropriateness. The former involves rules of usage and is illustrated in the two examples mentioned.The latter involves rules of language use. For example, a learner who invites a relative stranger by saying “ I want you to come to the cinema with me” has succeeded in using the code correctly but has failed to use it appropriately.

LEARNER ERRORS(c) Description of ErrorsThe description of learner errors involves a comparison of the learner’s idiosyncratic utterances with a reconstruction of those utterances in the target language.It requires, therefore, attention to the surface properties of the learners’ utterances (i.e. it does not attempt, at this stage, to identify the sources of the errors).

LEARNER ERRORS(c) Description of ErrorsCorder distinguishes three types of errors according to their systematicity:(i) Pre-systematic errors occur when the learner is unaware of the existence of a particular rule in the target language. These are random.(ii) Systematic errors occur when the learner has discovered a rule but it is the wrong one.(ii) Post-systematic errors occur when the learner knows the correct target language rule but uses it inconsistently (i.e. makes a mistake).

LEARNER ERRORS(d) Explanation of ErrorsExplanation is concerned with establishing the source of the error, i.e. accounting for why it was made. This stage is the most important for SLA research as it involves an attempt to establish the processes responsible for L2 acquisition.Taylor (1986), points out that, the error source may be psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic, epistemic, or may reside in the discourse structure.Psycholinguistic sources concern the nature of the L2 knowledge system and the difficulties learners have in using it in production. Sociolinguistic sources involve such matters as the learners’ ability to adjust their language in accordance with the social context. Epistemic sources concern the learners’ lack of world knowledge, while discourse sources involve problems in the organisation of information into a coherent ‘text’.

LEARNER ERRORS(e) Evaluating ErrorsThe design of error evaluation studies involves decisions on who the addressees (i.e. the judges) will be, what errors they will be asked to judge, and how they will be asked to judge them. The judges can vary according to whether they are native speakers (NS) or non-native speakers (NNS), and also according to whether they are ‘expert’ (i.e. language teachers) or ‘non-expert’.Error evaluation studies have addressed three main research questions:(i) Are some errors judged to be more problematic than others?(ii) Are there differences in the evaluations made by NS and NNS?(iii) What criteria do judges use in evaluating learners’ errors?

LEARNER ERRORSError analysis, however, as practised in the sixties and seventies, was an imperfect research tool. It could not show when learners resorted to avoidance and, as it ignored what learners could do correctly, it only looked at part of learner language. Also, the methodology of error analysis was vague in a number of respects. For example, it was not entirely clear what constituted an ‘error’ and it proved difficult to prepare rigorous descriptions of errors. As a result, many studies were unreliable and difficult to replicate. It is not surprising, perhaps, that error analysis has fallen out of favour with many researchers.However, the study of learner errors can still serve as a useful tool and is still undertaken, often as a means of investigating a specific research question.

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