(6)Foreign-Language-Teaching-Theories

ForeignLanguageTeachingTheoriesChapter6ErrorAnalysis6.1Theconceptof‘error’•InthespeechorwritingofanL2orTLlearner,theuseofalinguisticitem(e.g.aword,agrammaticalitem,aspeechact,etc.)inawaywhichafluentornativespeakerofthelanguageregardsasshowingfaultyorincompletelearning•Corder(1967,1971)putforwardausefuldistinctionbetweenthreetypesoffault:errormistakelapse•Infacingthestudent’ssentence,weaskfirst:IsthissentencepossibleintheTL?Iftheanswerisnegative,thereisanoverterror;iftheanswerispositive,therestillremainsthepossibilitythatthereisacoverterror.Todiscoverthiskindoferror,weaskthesecondquestion:Isthissentenceacceptableinthiscontext?Anegativeanswerheredefinesforusacoverterror,amistake.6.2Attitudestowardserrors•*Isawhimopenedthewindow.•Reaction1•Mygod,lookatthisreport!Whatdotheyteachthematschoolthesedays?IthoughttheyallhadtohaveapassinEnglishbeforewe’dconsiderthem–thisfellow’silliterate!•Reaction2•Veryinteresting.He’sobviouslyworkingonthehypothesisthatallactionsinpasttimemustbereferredtobyaverbmarkedforpasttense.He’sjustover-generalized–it’satypicaldevelopmentalerror.Well,notanerroratallreally–youcouldcallitanessentialstageinthelearningprocess.•Reaction3•Buttheyhaveanexamnextweek!•Whatarelikelytobetheattitudeofemployersorseniorcolleagues?ofresearchers?ofnativespeakers?ofexaminers?oflearnersthemselves?oftheteacher?•Theoretically,structuralistsregardedanerrorasanegativestimuluswhichwouldonlyreinforcebadhabits,soitshouldnotbeallowedtooccur.•Inthepost-structuralistperiod,errorsareregardedasevidenceofthelearningprocess.•ThelearnermakesconstanthypothesisaboutthestructureoftheTL.BymakinghypothesisabouttheTL,thelearnerarrivesataparticularlanguage,--termedINTERLANGUAGE,alanguageproducedbythelearnerintheprocessoflearningtheL2whichhasfeaturesofboththeL1andtheL2butisneither.FLlearnersmay(1)borrowpatternsfromtheirMT–languagetransferLongtimenosee.(2)extendpatternsfromtheTL–over-generalizationThetwomansbuyedanewcar.•(3)expressmeaningsusingthewordsandgrammarwhicharealreadyknown–communicationstrategy•Thisplace,cannotpark.•Iwantaclothformynose.•Shelivesinthebuilding.(6.3)Theprocessoferroranalysisidentificationdescriptionexplanationevaluationcorrection•recognition•interpretation•Reconstruction•classification•explanation•Thesestepsareinterdependent,i.e.theprocessisnotsimplyalinearone.•Iusedtocleanmyteetheverynight.•(?)Iusuallycleanmyteetheverynight.•(?)Ialwayscleanmyteetheverynight.6.3.1Identification(Recognition)•Thereisoneboyoutsidewhowantstoseeyou.•Isawsomeboyinthefield.•Itwasseriouslyinjuredintheaccident.•Mybrotheristootall.•Hopeyouareallwellthere.Givemylovetoall.•Wesatonthetableandateourlunch.6.3.2Description(Interpretation-Reconstruction-Classification)•Cluestointerpretation:thegeneralcontext,knowledgeofsimilarerrorsmadebysimilarstudents,knowledgeofthestudents’MT,andthepossibleresultsofpronunciationproblemandofdirecttranslationintoTL,directquestioningastowhatthestudentmeant.•*Sincetheharvestwasgood,wasrainalotlastyear.•*Myteacherusedtoweresotpens.•(?)Myteacheralwayswearsshortpants.•*Myfatherisaverykindman.Onotherhandheisverygoodtoeveryone.•*Wefeltasleep.(?)Wefellasleep.•(?)Wefeltsleepy.•*Wewereworkingalongthebeachtoourboat…•(?)Wewereworkingourwayalongthebeach…•(?)Wewerewalkingalongthebeachtoourboat…•Superficially,errorscanbeclassifiedasthoseof:omission:*Cowisausefulanimal.addition:*ShecameonlastSunday.substitution:*Hewasangryonme.mis-ordering:*Heaskedherwhattimewasit.•Wemustpointoutwhatwasomitted,added,substituted,ormis-ordered:prepositions?tenseforms?questions?•Errorshavetobeassignedtovariouslevelsoflinguisticdescription,i.e.phonological,orthographic,syntactic,lexical,situationalorsociolinguistic(appropriacy).•*Gototheshopandgetabread.•Doesthiscontainasyntacticerrorofsubstitutionofaforsome,oralexicalerrorofsubstitutionofbreadforloaf?•*Shesaidthatyesyoucango.•(?)ShesaidthatIcouldgo.•(?)Shesaid,‘Yes,youcango.’•Cf.*Sincetheharvestwasgood,wasrainalotlastyear.•*Theharvestwasgoodlastyear,becauseplentyofrain.6.3.3Explanationofcauses•6.3.3.1Interlingualcausesoferror•MT/externalinterference•languagetransfer•Contrastiveanalysis(CA)•Twotypesoftransfer•Negativetransferorinterference•*Younotknowsaywhat.•Positivetransfer•*Ilovesports.•Thegreaterthedifferencesthegreaterthedifficulties?•Experiencehasshown:(1)errorsoccurevenwhenCApredictsthatbecauseofsimilaritiesbetweenlanguages,thereshouldbenodifficulty.Partialsimilaritiesoftencausegreatdifficulties.•他连第三人称单数加-s都不知道。•(?)Heevendoesn’tknowthethirdpersonsingularmustaddan–s.•(?)Hedoesn’tevenkmowthethirdpersonsigularmesttakean–sending.•(2)errorsoftendonotoccurwhentherearebigdifferencesbetweenthelanguages.6.3.3.2Intralingualcausesoferror•Hypercorrection•*Iwastold,thereisbusstop.•*Ihaveagreatdifficultyintheuseofarticles.•Overgeneralization•*Hespeakedabeautifultongue.•*She’scuttedherfinger.•Studythefollowing:•*Shecanssingsverywell.•*Yourbodyisveryhealthy.•*WhendidTomleftthediscolastnight?•*Thismeatsmellsfreshly.•--Tryanddoyourhomework.•--*Iamtryinganddoingmyhomework.•--Ishegoingtotryanddoit?•--*He’sal