Central passages from Allwright & Bailey (1991:ch.

5)
=> problems in defining error (A & B 5: 84-86)
=> NS sets the standard; teacher is usually NNS => may deviate from L2 norms,
there are different Englishes, teachers reject utterances not only for reasons of accuracy
=> errors in L1A (A & B 5: 86-88)
=> the notions of error in L1A and in SLA differ from each other; errors in L1A are
(1) corrected more rarely and are (b) seen as less problematic as they tend to get lost
=> errors in NS-NS-discourse (A & B 5: 88-90)
=> NSs rarely correct each other, errors are usually treated as errors of performance
1. self-initiated other-repair (the speaker notices the error, someone else corrects it)
2. self-initiated self-repair (the speaker notices and corrects the error)
3. other-initiated self-repair (someone else notices the error, the speaker corrects it)
4. other-initiated other-repair (someone else notices and corrects the error)
=> rest: on interlanguage, hypothesis formation, fossilization, the need for cognitive feedback, etc.
Allwright, D. & Bailey, K. M. (1991). Focus on the language classroom: An introduction to classroom
research for language teachers. Cambridge: CUP. Ch 5: Oral errors: the general picture (pp. 83-97)
- the chapter provides a theoretical background for the concept of "errors"
- teachers responses to learners errors follow logically from the shift in the emphasis from contrastive
analysis to error analysis in the late 1950s and early 1970s. (83)
- Error analysis differed from contrastive analysis in that it studied the errors actually made by learners (83).
Problems in defining error (84-86)
An error is typically defined with reference to the production of a linguistic form which deviates from the
correct form. (84) The form that native speakers produce is usually considered as the correct form. This
definition is inadequate because
1. the language that pupils are taught in the classroom depends on the language of the nonnative instructor
and may therefore differ from the language of a native speaker
2. there is an acceptable alternative norm in some parts of the world (e. g. Educated Indian English)
In formal classroom instruction [] the teachers response to students utterances may be the most
important criterion for judging error. (p. 85) Sometimes responses are rejected by teachers not because they
are wrong but simply because they are unexpected.
Errors in first language acquisition (86-88)
Children make errors when they acquire their first language. Their development generally progresses
through regular stages (87), e. g. pre-babbling and babbling, holophrastic stage, the two-word stage and
telegraphic speech. Childrens language differs from the speech of the adults they are exposed to because
the children have gaps in their linguistic system. People seldom react to childrens deviant utterances as
errors (87), and content is emphasised over form in interactions between adults and children. In the course
of acquisition formal errors gradually decline.
Errors in native language conversations (pp. 88-90)
Errors occur even in the speech of NS adults, but these errors are often ignored unless they cause some
sort of breakdown in communication. (88) This kind of deviation (mistake) is also known as performance
error. If an error causes difficulties in communication, the problem can be repaired in different ways. If error
causes communication problems, several questions [] run quickly through the minds of adult native
speakers (88). There is for instance the question, who will verbally note the existence of the error (88), the
speaker or someone else who is involved in the communication. "This issue is referred to as self- or otherinitiation (89).
There are four possible combinations of initiation and repair in spoken language.
1. self-initiated other-repair (the speaker notices the error, someone else corrects it)
2. self-initiated self-repair (the speaker notices and corrects the error)
3. other-initiated self-repair (someone else notices the error, the speaker corrects it)
4. other-initiated other-repair (someone else notices and corrects the error)
English conversations show mostly self-initiated self-repair combinations. In language classes other-initiated
other-repair patterns are dominant. The teacher tells the learners that they have made errors and tells them
the right form.

Developmental stages in second language learning (91-92)

People who acquire a second language naturalistically (= without formal instruction) are thought to progress
along a continuum whose two poles are their first language and the target language. (p. 91) The concept of
Interlanguage stresses the systematic nature of the learners linguistic development between the two
languages. (p. 91) There is some overlap among these stages. The distinction between errors and
mistakes emphasises the systematic nature of [] developing interlanguage rules. (p. 91). Errors are
regular patterns in the speech of the learner that differ from the target language and that the learner cannot
correct himself whereas mistakes are just performance errors (e. g. memory lapses, slips of the tongue) that
the learners can correct themselves. The teachers job is to help students move along the interlanguage
continuum (p. 92) and they are trying to do this by treating errors.
Hypothesis testing and fossilisation (93-94)
There are two possible explanations of what happens in the second language learners mind (93)
1. Hypothesis testing
Second language learners try a new form they might have seen or heard or been taught (= hypothesis) and
get some feedback (comprehension signals, blank looks, requests for clarification). Depending on this
feedback they alter their hypothesis and try again or continue with the original idea of how to communicate
successfully. (93)
2. Fossilisation
Some learners do not alter their output according to the feedback they get. Instead they get stuck with a
fixed system of linguistic forms that do not match the target language model. (93)
=> Learning correctly consists of internalising appropriate forms of the target language, while fossilisation is
the consistent use of recognisably erroneous forms. (93)
To prevent fossilisation of erroneous forms, learners need cognitive feedback, that means information about
the language they use (94) as well as positive affective feedback (emotional reactions in response to the
learners utterances) to ensure continued communication (94).
Points to note from Allwright & Bailey (1991: Ch. 5):
- EA differed from CA in that it studied the errors actually made by learners (83).
- An error is a deviation from a norm set by native speakers of the language in question (cf. 84)
=> problem 1: instructors may be NNS - and may thus provide incorrect models
=> problem 2: there are different Englishes with different norms
- Teachers may reject utterances not because they are wrong but because they are unexpected. (cf. 85)
- Errors in first language acquisition (86-88) => to be ignored here
- Errors in the speech of NS adults are often ignored unless they cause some sort of breakdown in
communication. (88)
=> This kind of deviation (mistake) is also known as performance error.
=> concept of repair
"This issue is referred to as self- or other-initiation (89).
There are four possible combinations of initiation and repair in spoken language.
1. self-initiated other-repair (the speaker notices the error, someone else corrects it)
2. self-initiated self-repair (the speaker notices and corrects the error)
3. other-initiated self-repair (someone else notices the error, the speaker corrects it)
4. other-initiated other-repair (someone else notices and corrects the error)
(a) English conversations show mostly self-initiated self-repair combinations.
(b) In language classes other-initiated other-repair patterns are dominant.
- Developmental stages in second language learning (91-92) => to be ignored here
- Hypothesis testing and fossilisation (93-94)
There are two possible explanations of what happens in the second language learners mind (93)
1. Hypothesis testing: Second language learners try a new form they might have seen or heard or been
taught (= hypothesis) and get some feedback (comprehension signals, blank looks, requests for clarification).
Depending on this feedback they alter their hypothesis and try again or continue with the original idea of
how to communicate successfully. (93)
2. Fossilisation: Some learners do not alter their output according to the feedback they get. Instead they get
stuck with a fixed system of linguistic forms that do not match the target language model. (93)
=> Learning correctly consists of internalising appropriate forms of the target language, while fossilisation is
the consistent use of recognisably erroneous forms. (93)
To prevent fossilisation of erroneous forms, learners need cognitive feedback, that means information about
the language they use (94) as well as positive affective feedback (emotional reactions in response to the
learners utterances) to ensure continued communication (94).