Project 1: Error analysis
(L2 learner linguistic profile)
1
,CONTENTS:
Theoretical part
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3
1. Error Analysis in the Teaching the Foreign Language Methodology .................................. 4
1.1 Interference Between the Native Language and the Second Language ............................. 4
1.2 Hierarchy of Difficulty and Types and Causes of the Errors ............................................ 7
2. Student’s profile……………….…………………………..………………………………11
Practical Part
3. Error Identification: The interview................................................................................... 12
4. Error Identification: The story ......................................................................................... 24
Work cited… ....................................................................................................................... 34
Appendix I .......................................................................................................................... 35
Appendix II ......................................................................................................................... 36
Appendix III ........................................................................................................................ 37
Appendix IV ..................................................................................................................................38
Appendix V …………………………………..……………………………………………...39
2
,Introduction
This work consists of two parts: in its first part I will deal with the theoretical part of
error analysis; I will talk about interference between the native language and the second
language as well as about the different types and causes of errors. In the second part, the
practical one, I will describe and analyze the errors made in spoken English and then, in the
writing piece of paper (story), and finally, the conclusion derived from the both analyses will
be offered.
Communication, being "a process by which information is exchanged between
individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior" (Merriam-Webster
Online, 2003), is at the heart of all human interactions. In order to communicate with people
of other nations we need to learn different languages which structure is often differs a lot from
the structure of the native language. The foreign language learning environment encompasses
everything the language learner hears and sees in the new language. Moreover, if the learner
knows some other foreign languages it may be possible that those languages also exert
influence on the new language one learns.
The influence of the mother language is called the linguistic interference, also it is
known as L1 interference, language transfer or crossmeaning. It is most commonly discussed
in the context of English language learning and teaching, but it can occur in any situation
when someone does not have a native-level command of a language, as when translating into
a second language.
There are several levels on which the first language and the known foreign languages
can influence on the new language which are learned. But at all these levels the linguistic
interference can cause different mistakes, or errors, which are one of the main interests of the
error analysis.
The subject of our research is the error analysis based on the study of the influence,
3
, which is exerts by Spanish, as a mother language, on English as a second language. According
to the subject we can lay down the aim of our research, which is to study the specific errors
made be the Spanish speaking student who learns English. This aim determines more specific
problems of our research:
- to describe the main features of the error analysis in comparison with the
contrastive analysis;
- to define and analyze the types of the errors and the causes of the errors
according to the most prominent researchers of this field;
Thus, we can conclude that the purpose of this paper is to find out the main types of
errors made by the Spanish student when learning English as a foreign language, to figure out
the most common errors in speaking and writing and finally explain the sources of errors.
1. Error Analysis in the Teaching the Foreign Language Methodology
1.1 Interference Between the Native Language and the Second Language
One cannot learn something without making mistakes during the process of learning.
This statement can be also referred to the process of the learning the foreign language. These
mistakes, of course, are undesirable, but also, they can help to see more clearly aspects which
are the most difficult for the learner and predict further mistakes.
So, it is obvious that to understand this process of second language learning, it is
important to analyze the mistakes made by the student in the procedure of creating a new
system of language. For this reason, Contrastive Analysis was established. Errors were
identified as the interference of the mother tongue of the learner with the target language they
want to learn.
First, by analyzing errors we can obtain information about how a language is learned,
errors reflect the learner internal constructs. This, according to Larry Selinker, American
4
(L2 learner linguistic profile)
1
,CONTENTS:
Theoretical part
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3
1. Error Analysis in the Teaching the Foreign Language Methodology .................................. 4
1.1 Interference Between the Native Language and the Second Language ............................. 4
1.2 Hierarchy of Difficulty and Types and Causes of the Errors ............................................ 7
2. Student’s profile……………….…………………………..………………………………11
Practical Part
3. Error Identification: The interview................................................................................... 12
4. Error Identification: The story ......................................................................................... 24
Work cited… ....................................................................................................................... 34
Appendix I .......................................................................................................................... 35
Appendix II ......................................................................................................................... 36
Appendix III ........................................................................................................................ 37
Appendix IV ..................................................................................................................................38
Appendix V …………………………………..……………………………………………...39
2
,Introduction
This work consists of two parts: in its first part I will deal with the theoretical part of
error analysis; I will talk about interference between the native language and the second
language as well as about the different types and causes of errors. In the second part, the
practical one, I will describe and analyze the errors made in spoken English and then, in the
writing piece of paper (story), and finally, the conclusion derived from the both analyses will
be offered.
Communication, being "a process by which information is exchanged between
individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior" (Merriam-Webster
Online, 2003), is at the heart of all human interactions. In order to communicate with people
of other nations we need to learn different languages which structure is often differs a lot from
the structure of the native language. The foreign language learning environment encompasses
everything the language learner hears and sees in the new language. Moreover, if the learner
knows some other foreign languages it may be possible that those languages also exert
influence on the new language one learns.
The influence of the mother language is called the linguistic interference, also it is
known as L1 interference, language transfer or crossmeaning. It is most commonly discussed
in the context of English language learning and teaching, but it can occur in any situation
when someone does not have a native-level command of a language, as when translating into
a second language.
There are several levels on which the first language and the known foreign languages
can influence on the new language which are learned. But at all these levels the linguistic
interference can cause different mistakes, or errors, which are one of the main interests of the
error analysis.
The subject of our research is the error analysis based on the study of the influence,
3
, which is exerts by Spanish, as a mother language, on English as a second language. According
to the subject we can lay down the aim of our research, which is to study the specific errors
made be the Spanish speaking student who learns English. This aim determines more specific
problems of our research:
- to describe the main features of the error analysis in comparison with the
contrastive analysis;
- to define and analyze the types of the errors and the causes of the errors
according to the most prominent researchers of this field;
Thus, we can conclude that the purpose of this paper is to find out the main types of
errors made by the Spanish student when learning English as a foreign language, to figure out
the most common errors in speaking and writing and finally explain the sources of errors.
1. Error Analysis in the Teaching the Foreign Language Methodology
1.1 Interference Between the Native Language and the Second Language
One cannot learn something without making mistakes during the process of learning.
This statement can be also referred to the process of the learning the foreign language. These
mistakes, of course, are undesirable, but also, they can help to see more clearly aspects which
are the most difficult for the learner and predict further mistakes.
So, it is obvious that to understand this process of second language learning, it is
important to analyze the mistakes made by the student in the procedure of creating a new
system of language. For this reason, Contrastive Analysis was established. Errors were
identified as the interference of the mother tongue of the learner with the target language they
want to learn.
First, by analyzing errors we can obtain information about how a language is learned,
errors reflect the learner internal constructs. This, according to Larry Selinker, American
4
