How does error analysis explain the foreign language learners errors?

D R R I C H A R D S R E S P O N D S:
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 learners 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 Jaime beaucoup le caf. 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 didnt 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 dont know why people always talking me.
Yesterday I didnt 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
didnt know so I didnt 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 learners grammatical development appears to have stopped
at a certain level and recurring errors of both grammar and pronunciation
have become permanent features of a learners speech. This is referred to
as fossilization. Fossilization refers to the persistence of errors in a
learners 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 doesnt 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
3rdperson 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.
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