Marta Ligmanowska
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun
WHAT IS AN ERROR AND WHAT IS THE ROLE OF ERROR IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING
The article describes the notion of an error in Second Language Learning. Moreover, it enumerates and defines its types and causes. It also presents the role and significance of the error in the field of pedagogy and research.
Key words: error, error typology, error causes, interlanguage, role of error
Errors happen to be the very common part of Second Language Learning (L2). However, in order to become an effective learner or teacher of the L2, it is significant to develop the awareness that errors hold a positive aspect of learning.
First of all, it is essential to explain what an error means. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, error is “a mistake, especially one that can cause problems”[i]. On the other hand, William Littlewood describes errors as not the ones that are causing problems or are considered failures in L2, but he presents them as tools for identifying the learners’ development in L2, and the ways the learners process the knowledge of a target language. This contemporary viewpoint was established around 1960s. Formerly, people had believed that errors were intolerable parts of L2 as they were preventing the learner from producing the correct version of a language.[ii]Another definition of the subject would say that errors “happen when learners try to say something that is beyond their current level of language processing.” What is more, in this case, learners are unable to correct themselves because they are unaware of their inaccuracies.[iii]
Secondly, errors are divided into two subcategories:
- errors in production – errors that appear while performing the tasks concerning productive skills (speaking, writing);
- errors in comprehension – errors that appear while performing the tasks concerning receptive skills (listening, reading).
The second subcategory seems to be more problematic to detect as it is often impossible to locate the source of an error. [iv]
Thirdly, it is essential to explain what causes learners to perpetrate errors. There are two main sources of errors[v]:
–interference from the native language – also called interlingual factors;these particular errors occur due to the fact that the native language of a learner influences the second language processing. A notable example of errors that are affected by the native language is the incorrectness in pronunciation. The common error among Polish Second Language Learners, especially at the beginning of L2, appear in the pronunciation of a word “thing”/θɪŋ/[vi] which is pronounced /fing/, /ting/, or even /thing/. Such an errors occur because of the fact that Polish phonetic transcription differs from the English one. In this case, Polish phonetic transcription lacks [θ], [ɪ], and [ŋ] and is compensated by [f], [t], [h], [i], and [ing]. [vii]
–developmental factors – also called intralingual factors, appear as an effect of the difficulty which learners encounter on their way of learning a new language. Hanna Y. Touchie enumerates the following developmental factors[viii]:
- simplification –learners refuse to use complex forms of a language which, as a final result, appears to be an error. It can be illustrated by the usage of the present simple tense instead of present perfect simple because of its more advanced structure.
- overgeneralisation –learners apply one structure to different contexts inaccurately. The most common overgeneralisation is adding -ed ending to each and every verb in order to gain the simple past forms of the verbs, such as “go”à “goed”, or “break” à “breaked”.
- hypercorrection –learners, while producing speech,are inaccurately corrected by their teachers. In this particular issue, L2 learners formulate structures incorrectly even though they used to practise the accurate forms. Hanna Y. Touchie exemplifies the issue by the Arab ESL learners who pronounce the phoneme [b] as [p] as they were told to do so by their teacher.
- faulty teaching –learners produce the language incorrectly because of the fact that their teacher, while explaining the language, provides them with confusing materials or presentations. In practice, if a learner was taught that the article “a” is used with plural forms of the nouns, he or she would be reduplicating such an error.
5.fossilisation –learners begin to use incorrect forms for a longer period of time. This particular problem happens to be extremely difficult to overcome. For example, learners that develop in their interlanguage[ix] an error, are likely to fossilise it and produce it constantly.
- avoidance –learners simply avoid using too difficult structures. In such case, they stop the development of the process of learning as well as they are likely to go wrong. For instance, a learner would use the present simple (instead of present continuous) tense in order to describe an action that is taking place at the moment of speaking.
- inadequate learning –learners tend to make errors because of the fact that they ignore the rules or they learn incompletely. One of the most common examples is the omission of the -s ending while speaking about the third person singular –“she go to school every day”.
- false concepts hypothesised –learners incorrectly hypothesise about the target language and its structures. For instance, a large number of L2 learners identify “is” as an inseparable part of the present simple tense. Because of this, they very often formulate structures such as “she is go to the cinema once a month” or “you is wonderful”. At the same time, they apply the rule to other tenses creating in that manner sentences such as “Tom was visited Rome in 2012”.
The number of developmental errors as well as interference errors may decrease because of the fact that the learners are remaining in the process of learning. What is more, errors not necessarily have to be corrected by the teacher. The natural process of learning allows learners to become aware of their own errors and provides them with a green light to correct those errors.[x]
Furthermore, it is also worth mentioning, that every learner creates his or her own interlanguage. As mentioned before, interlanguage is “the type of language (or linguistic system) used by second- and foreign-language learners who are in the process of learning a target language”[xi]. According to Rod Ellis, interlanguage[xii]:
–consists of implicit linguistic knowledge where learners are unaware of the rules of their interlanguages,
–is a system with regularities such as grammar is a system to a native speaker,
–is permeable, which means that interlanguage is constantly changing because of the fact that during the process of learning the language accuracy develops,
–is the product of general learning strategies,
–may be supplemented by the means of communication strategies such as paraphrasing, asking for help, or generally speaking, compensation for lack of knowledge.
–may fossilise.
According to professor Pit Corder from the University of Edinburgh, errors play an important role in the process of learning.
First of all, errors are used by teachers all over the world as tools which help to recognise what the learners have already mastered or what issues or structures remain still problematic for them. Secondly, pedagogically speaking, researchers use errors in order to examine the ways in which the languages are learnt. Thirdly, they are helpful in the process of self-correction, when learners are to discover themselves the rules of the language they are learning by obtaining the feedback on their errors. Last, but not least, the appearance of errors in the language production is the proof that the language is still being learnt by the learner. [xiii]
To summarise, errors may have a positive impact on one’s Second Language Learning as long as they are not fossilised. It is also important to become aware that errors are not the failures in L2, but, if used aright, they cause a positive effect on the process of self-correction, acknowledging the rules of language, and they can become helpful in L2 research.
References
- Cambridge Dictionary, http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-polisherror DOA April 8, 2016.
- Ellis, Rod, G. Barkhuizen. Analyzing Learner Language. 2005.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. –51-53 p.
- English Phonetic Transcription. http://nuctutor.blogspot.com/2013/04/phonetic-transcription-and-recieved.html. DOA April 9, 2016.
- Interlanguage. http://grammar.about.com/od/il g/Interlanguage.htm DOA April 9, 2016.
- Littlewood W. Foreign and Second Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. –22 p.
- Polish Phonetic Transcription: http://mowicpopolsku.com/polish-alphabet-pronunciation/. DOA April 9, 2016.
- Spratt Marry, A. Pulverness, M. Williams, The TKT Teaching Knowledge Test Course, University of Cambridge ESOL Examination, http://www.cambridge.org/us/cambridgeenglish/catalog/cambridge-english-exams-ielts/tkt-course-modules-1-2-and-3-2nd-edition. –44-45 p. DOA April 8, 2016.
- Touchie H. Y. Second Language Learning Errors, Their Types, Causes, and 9.Treatment. JALT Journal, Volume 8, No. 1. 1986. –76-79 p.
[i]Cambridge Dictionary, http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-polish/error DOA April 8, 2016.
[ii] Littlewood W.Foreign and Second Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. –22 p.
[iii]Spratt Marry, A. Paleness,M. Williams, The TKT Teaching Knowledge Test Course, University of Cambridge ESOL Examination, http://www.cambridge.org/us/cambridgeenglish/catalog/cambridge-english-exams-ielts/tkt-course-modules-1-2-and-3-2nd-edition. –44 p. DOA April 8, 2016.
[iv]Ellis, Rod, G. Barkhuizen. Analyzing Learner Language. 2005.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. –51 p.
[v]Touchie H. Y. Second Language Learning Errors, Their Types, Causes, and Treatment. JALT Journal, Volume 8, No. 1. 1986. –76 p.
[vi]English Phonetic Transcription. http://nuctutor.blogspot.com/2013/04/phonetic-transcr iption-and-recieved.html. DOA April 9, 2016.
[vii]Polish Phonetic Transcription: http://mowicpopolsku.com/polish-alphabet-pronunciation/. DOA April 9, 2016.
[viii]Touchie H. Y. Second Language Learning Errors, Their Types, Causes, and Treatment. JALT Journal, Volume 8, No. 1. 1986. –77-79 p.
[ix] „[T}he type of language (or linguistic system) used by second- and foreign-language learners who are in the process of learning a target language”. The term was coined by Professor Larry Selinker in 1972. [http://grammar.about.com/od/il g/Interlanguage.htm DOA April 9, 2016.)
[x]Spratt Marry, A. Pulverness, M. Williams, The TKT Teaching Knowledge Test Course, University of Cambridge ESOL Examination, http://www.cambridge.org/us/cambri dgeenglish/catalog/cambridge-english-exams-ielts/tkt-course-modules-1-2-and-3-2nd-edition. –45 p. DOA April 8, 2016.
[xi]Ibidem
[xii]Ellis, Rod, G. Barkhuizen. Analyzing Learner Language. 2005. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. –51-53 p.
[xiii]Ellis, Rod, G. Barkhuizen. Analyzing Learner Language. 2005. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. –51 p.
Resources
- Cambridge Dictionary, http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-polisherror DOA April 8, 2016.
- Ellis, Rod, G. Barkhuizen. Analyzing Learner Language. 2005.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. –51-53 p.
- English Phonetic Transcription. http://nuctutor.blogspot.com/2013/04/phonetic-transcription-and-recieved.html. DOA April 9, 2016.
- Interlanguage. http://grammar.about.com/od/il g/Interlanguage.htm DOA April 9, 2016.
- Littlewood W. Foreign and Second Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. –22 p.
- Polish Phonetic Transcription: http://mowicpopolsku.com/polish-alphabet-pronunciation/. DOA April 9, 2016.
- Spratt Marry, A. Pulverness, M. Williams, The TKT Teaching Knowledge Test Course, University of Cambridge ESOL Examination, http://www.cambridge.org/us/cambridgeenglish/catalog/cambridge-english-exams-ielts/tkt-course-modules-1-2-and-3-2nd-edition. –44-45 p. DOA April 8, 2016.
- Touchie H. Y. Second Language Learning Errors, Their Types, Causes, and 9.Treatment. JALT Journal, Volume 8, No. 1. 1986. –76-79 p.