An investigation into the errors in verb tense forms found in paragraph writing by the 10th form students at kim thanh upper secondary school

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ************************* ĐẶNG THỊ HOÀNG LAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ERRORS IN VERB-TENSE FORMS FO

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*************************

ĐẶNG THỊ HOÀNG LAN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ERRORS IN VERB-TENSE FORMS FOUND IN PARAGRAPH–WRITING BY THE 10th-FORM STUDENTS AT KIM THANH UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL

(Khảo sát các lỗi về dạng thì của động từ thường gặp trong bài viết đoạn

văn của học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Kim Thành)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Hanoi – 2016

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*************************

ĐẶNG THỊ HOÀNG LAN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ERRORS IN VERB-TENSE FORMS FOUND IN PARAGRAPH–WRITING BY THE 10th-FORM STUDENTS AT KIM THANH UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL

(Khảo sát các lỗi về dạng thì của động từ thường gặp trong bài viết đoạn

văn của học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Kim Thành)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: ASSOC.PROF.DR LÊ VĂN CANH

Hanoi – 2016

I, ĐẶNG THỊ HOÀNG LAN, hereby certify that this thesis, which is

entitled “An Investigation into the Errors in Verb-Tense Forms Found in Paragraph-Writing by the 10th-Form Students at Kim Thanh Upper- Secondary School” is created from my original work I have firmly declared the

contribution of others to my thesis such as data analysis, practical strategies, and all other researches that were employed or reviewed in my thesis

This thesis is the result of my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Hanoi, 2016

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Lê Văn Canh, whose insightful comments, criticism, direction and kind support were of great assistance to me in carrying out this study

My sincere thanks also go to all the lecturers and staff of the Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for their valuable knowledge and invaluable guidance and help during my two years of study at the Faculty

I am also indebted to my colleagues as well as my students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secondary School, who have helped me a lot in my data collection to fulfill this paper

Last but not least, I would like to express my appreciation to my family for their understanding and strong encouragement to me throughout the study

Đặng Thị Hoàng Lan

ABSTRACT

This study aims at investigating the common errors in verb-tense forms made by the students of grade 10 at Kim Thanh Upper- Secondary School The participants are forty two tenth-grade students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secondary School, where the author is working In order to find out the most common errors in verb-tense forms and factors causing the students‟ making these errors, two data collection instruments are employed: students‟ written paragraphs and individual open-ended interviews The results showed that more errors were made in verb-tense forms than in verb-tense choice Regarding the errors made

by the students‟ confusion of different verb tenses, the most and the least erroneous tenses were the Past Simple tense and the Future Simple Tense respectively As to errors in verb-tense forms, omission errors were the most frequent ones, while misordering was the least frequently-made By describing and interpreting the data collected, the researcher managed to find out factors leading to these errors, which consisted of both objective factors and subjective factors Based on the literature review and findings, the author put forward practical suggestions to the teachers of English with a view to improving English teaching and learning at the school

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Objectives of the study 2

3 Research question 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Method of study ……….……… 2

6 Design of the study 3

7 Significance of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 The writing syllabus for 10th-grade students 5

1.2 Definitions of errors 6

1.3 Causes of errors 6

1.4 The challenges of learning English verb tenses 8

1.5 Theoretical Foundation of Error Analysis ……….…………….12

1.5.1 Interlanguage Theory……….…………12

1.5.2.Interference of First language (L1) into Second Language (L2)………… 14

1.6 Methods used in researching errors……….15

1.6.1 S.P Corder‟s Error Analysis Procedure……….……… 15

1.6.2 Surface Strategy Taxonomy (Dulay, Burt and Krahsen, 1982) ….……… 16

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19

2.1 Research design and methodology …19

2.2 Participants 20

2.3 Data Collection Instruments 20

2.4 Research Procedures 21

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION……… 23

3.1 Common verb-tense errors made by the 10th-form students 23

at Kim Thanh Upper-Secondary School 23

3.1.1 Wrong choice of verb tenses 23

3.1.2 Wrong formation of verb tenses 27

3.1.2.1 Errors of omission 27

3.1.2.2 Errors of addition 29

3.1.2.3 Errors of misformation 30

3.1.2.4 Errors of misordering 31

3.2 Factors that lead to the errors in verb-tense forms in paragraph writing made by the 10th-form students at Kim Thanh 32

Upper-Secondary School 32

3.3 Discussion of the findings 35

PART C: CONCLUSION 36

1 Conclusion 36

2 Implications………36

3 Limitations and suggestions for further study 37

3.1 Limitations of the study 37

3.2 Suggestions for further research 37

REFERENCES 39 APPENDICES………I APPENDIX A: Questions for interview

APPENDIX B: Photocopies of some students‟ writing pieces

Table 1.3 Error Analysis Procedure by S.P Corder 15

Table 3.1 An overview of the errors in verb tense choice 24

30

31

31

33

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BA: Bachelor of Arts

M.A: Master of Arts

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

L1: First language, or Mother tongue

L2: Second language

1 Rationale of the study

In English, the different tenses are signaled by verb endings or by auxiliary verbs The English tense system is quite complicated Therefore, it is not surprising that even though students start from the easiest tense, they find it difficult to understand, remember and use the tense correctly, especially when, besides various uses and forms of different verb tenses, they have to memorize all kinds of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and auxiliaries This will make students bored and make it difficult for them to comprehend English grammar

In English writing, verb is the most active part in the sentence for expressing an action, an occurrence, or a state of being Palmer (1965: 5) suggests that “learning a language is to a very large degree learning how to operate the verbal forms of that language.” In English, verbs are inflected for tense while there is no inflection in Vietnamese This causes difficulty to Vietnamese students learning English

Through this study, the author tries to find out the common types of errors

in using verb-tense forms made by the 10th- grade students at Kim Thanh Secondary School in their written paragraphs

As a teacher at Kim Thanh High School, a school in a rural area of Hai Duong province, the author sees that students tend to have problems in using the

English tenses in their writings The situation encourages the author to have An Investigation into the Errors in Verb-Tense Forms Found in Paragraph- Writing by the 10th-Form Students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secondary School

It is hoped that the results of this study will be useful for both teachers and students in teaching and learning writing skill in general and in improving paragraph-writing ability in particular

2 Objectives of the study

The main objective of this study is to analyze students‟ errors in using English tenses and identify the sources of errors as taken from the students‟ writings as well as to provide some pedagogical implications for teaching English

as a foreign language The objectives of this study are:

1 To describe the types of errors in verb-tense forms made by the 10th- grade students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secondary School as revealed in their writings

2 To describe the causes of errors in verb-tense forms

This study is carried out in the hope that teachers and students can define the student‟s common errors in verb-tense forms and adjust their way of teaching and learning this skill basing on the causes of these errors in order to obtain better results

3 Research Questions

In order to achieve the above aims, two research questions are raised:

1 What are the common verb-tense errors made by the 10th-form students at Kim Thanh Upper-Secondary School?

2 What are the causes of these errors according to the students’ self-reports?

4 Scope of the Study

Due to the limited time and restricted scope of study of a minor thesis, this study only focuses on identifying a number of common errors in verb-tense forms committed by 10th-form students at Kim Thanh High School when they write paragraphs Based on the discussions of the findings, some possible solutions will be introduced

5 Method of the study

In this study, the writer adopted mainly quantitative and qualitative research methods Two main instruments were employed for data collection: students‟ written paragraphs and interviews

Specifically, 168 paragraphs, each of which is about 130-150 words in length, on four different topics were collected from 42 students of grade 10 Errors on verb tense forms were identified and classified into different categories Statistical counting was carried out to present the real picture of students' errors

on verb tense forms

A face-to-face interview with individual students was conducted to find out the reasons students gave for the way they used the verb-tense forms in their written paragraphs

6 Design of the thesis

The study consists of three parts, organized as follows:

Part A – Introduction - gives basic information about the topic of this paper

including the reason for choosing the topic, objectives, research questions, scope, method and significance of the study An outline of the thesis is also mentioned

in this chapter

Part B - Development

This part is composed of three chapters

Chapter 1- Literature Review - discusses the relevant theories related to errors,

causes of errors, challenges of learning English verb tenses as well as theoretical foundation of error analysis

Chapter 2- Research Methodology - mentions the methodology employed to

carry out the research This includes a discussion of the participants, the setting, the data collection instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis

Chapter 3- Data Analysis and Discussion - presents the findings and discussion

of the findings

Part C- Conclusion- provides some practical suggestions to help teachers have

effective methods in teaching writing skill Some brief information about the limitations of the study and suggestions for further study will also be included

7 Significance of the study

The study is significant for a variety of reasons From an academic level it allows for a highly useful demonstration regarding the learning and language skill abilities of students within the specified tenth grade class This is important

to assess the way that grammatical errors may occur as well as the way that they can be propagated despite instructors‟ efforts

The students‟ errors that are identified in this investigation are particular to those within a rural learning setting The specific nature of their errors will allow for a differentiated understanding of the way that future evaluation regarding verb formation can be improved Such a value is further important based on the responses from a qualitative survey (the interview) regarding the student

perspective on teaching style and their own aptitude for retention The study would further be significant in detailing the way that rural students at the tenth grade level form cognitive application of the English language as well as the common themes or challenges in teaching this demographic The overall significance of individual case reports within this area will create a highly valuable account of one particular community in Vietnam and can be seen as useful for gathering conclusions about other areas as well

Ultimately the value of this inquiry will promote second language learning skill acquisition research on a whole There are specific benefits towards the parallels between those learning English with their mother tongue being Vietnamese in particular The greatest value that can be identified would be the connection between information from this micro study with the larger picture of research on the learning and teaching of English in similar contexts

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 The writing syllabus for 10th - grade students

1 Writing a narrative

2 Filling in a form

3 Writing about people‟s background

4 Writing a letter of complaint

5 Writing instructions

6 Writing a confirmation letter

7 Writing about the advantages and disadvantages of the mass media

8 Giving direction

9 Interpreting facts and figures

10 Writing an informal letter of invitation

11 Writing an informal letter of acceptance or refusal

1.2 Definitions of errors

Making errors is the most natural thing in the world In communication, both native speakers and non-native speakers can make errors though their errors are different

Error is defined as “systematic deviations” from the norms of language

being learnt by Cunning Worth (1987) or when a learner has not learnt something and constantly gets it wrong Besides, Choon (1993) describes “error” as a form

of structure that is inappropriately used and that cannot be accepted by a native speaker According to Richards (1989), the term is identified as a faulty use of a linguistic item which shows incomplete learning Another definition of errors is

given by Brown (1994) He identifies errors as “noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker, reflecting the interlanguage competence of the learner” Corder (1973) refers to errors as breaches of the code; they deviate

from what is regarded as the norm by native speakers

Error in writing is defined by many linguists and methodologists, but in short it is the faulty use of target language and it reveals a portion of the learners‟ weak competence in the target language

Error analysis

Error analysis is a valuable source of information to teachers It provides information on learner‟s error which helps teachers to correct it and also improves the effectiveness of their teaching In other words, errors give signs to teachers and researchers whether the using process is successful or not (Brown, 1994)

in organizing the facts about the second language, but others, perhaps due to

superficial similarities, will be misleading and inapplicable - overgeneralization covers instances where the learner creates a deviant structure on the basis of his experience of other structures in the target language

Based on the above statements, we can say that the cause of error in this case is not the influence of the learners' mother tongue but it is the influence of the target language which they have already learnt, for example: “He runs

fastly” In this sentence, the learner produces an error because he/she generalizes

that adverbs of manner must always be formed by adding 'ly' to the adjectives

• Ignorance of Rule Restriction

This kind of error is closely related to overgeneralization; that is, the learners fail to observe the restrictions of certain structures In this case, they apply a rule in the context of a sentence where actually it is not necessary, e g :

The man whom I saw him yesterday The student does not know that it is

impossible to mention the person referred to by the relative pronoun by another pronoun as well

• Incomplete Application of Rule

This means that the learners apply a rule in the context of a sentence, although the rule is not yet complete The students may use a statement for a

question by adding a question mark at the end of the sentence, for example: “He goes to school?”

• False Concepts Hypothesized

False concepts hypothesized refers to faulty rule learning at various levels There is a class of interlingual errors which derive from faulty comprehension of distinctions in the target language These are sometimes due to poor gradation of

teaching items some students get confused and cannot differentiate between go and come, bring and take, too and very, etc They use the present tense instead of

the present continuous tense or the other way round This might be caused by learners not paying much attention to the difference between items They

consider too and very are the same as well as go and come, etc

Another cause of error mentioned by George (1972) is 'redundancy reduction' This is a tendency by EFL learners to eliminate many items or add

unnecessary items which are redundant to conveying the intended message For instance, in the case of a learner of English language as a foreign language we

may meet utterances, such as: “No understand”, “return back” etc It is rather a

simplified code of communication or reduced language systems used by foreign

language learners especially in earlier stages of the learning process

1.4 The challenges of learning English verb tenses

Verbs in English provide information about whether they are happening in the past, present and future Hence, in English, tense is marked on all verb forms EFL learners face several difficulties in their attempt to master English tense properly For Cowan (2008, p 350) “use of verb forms is one of the two or three most difficult areas for English language learners to master.” As a result, EFL learners sometimes make mistakes in the proper use of verb forms as they attempt to express the time of an event in the target language

The following sentences were produced by some Bengali learners of English who have completed secondary education (Cowan, 2008) The sentences indicate some potential areas in which they are likely to make errors:

(1) * When I was entered into the exam hall, I was feeling nervous

(When I entered the exam hall, I was feeling nervous.)

(2) * I was seen and introduced with many unknown students

(I saw many unknown students, and I was introduced to them.)

(3) * Then I was taken lunch

(Then I took lunch.)

(4) * Then I was come back home

(Then I came back home.)

(5) * I was done the work

(I did the work.)

The above Bengali learners of English seem to make errors in the formation of past expression;

Sentences 1 to 5, for example, indicate that some EFL learners form past tense using an auxiliary and the past participle form of the verbs instead of using the past form of the verbs

Therefore, this is an area in which learners are observed to face problems

in using verbs to indicate past time

EFL learners are sometimes found to form expression in which time itself

is confused In the following example (6), a student does not use any auxiliary to indicate whether the action time is in the present or the past This may be due to the L1 interference because in Bengali language, progressive action does not require any extra auxiliary

(6) * I going with my father

(I am/was going with my father.)

In example 7, an EFL learner who is studying for a BA degree in English, uses “is appeared‟ to form the following past expression:

(7) * The ghost is appeared for some reasons

(The ghost appeared for some reasons.)

EFL learners‟ native language (L1) influence can be claimed to be one of the reasons behind their failure to acquire the tense of the target language (TL) For example, according to Cowan (2008), in some languages, including Chinese, tense is not expressed through „overt markers, or inflections on verbs‟ The following Chinese sentences, for example, indicate past time with the use of „jien tien‟ not by adding an inflection such as the „English –ed‟

(8)„Ta zao tian chu zhigiageo‟

(*She yesterday go Chicago.)

(She went to Chicago yesterday)

Apart from the Chinese EFL learners, L1 influence is observed among the Dutch learners of English

According to Housen (2000), Dutch EFL learners are required to understand the difference between the simple past and the past progressive in English as this dissimilarity is not marked in their L1 L1 influence may retain to affect even the proficient L2 learners (See also, Housen, 2002)

Unlike English, Bengali speakers do not need to use inflection in the verb for simple present tense

(9) Arif vat khai

*Arif eat rice

(Arif eats rice.)

Sentence 9, for example, shows that the Bengali EFL learner of English

did not use inflection in the verb -eat This is a common mistake that is observed

with most EFL learners in Bangladesh, and this seems to happen since Bengali language does not indicate present tense though inflection on verbs

According to Cowan (2008), unlike English, some languages do not include „back shifting constraints‟ (p.382) Bengali speakers may use their L1 sequence of tense rule in forming English sentences For example, in the sentence

shown below (10), the verb in that clause is not back shifted to “had”

(10) *He remembered that he has to go back home

(He remembered that he had to go back home.)

Within Bengali language, speakers do not have to maintain tense sequence

by backshifting to previous clause(s)

Hence, some learners apply their Bengali tense sequence in order to form English sentences with that complements (See also, Cowan, 2008)

Apart from EFL learners‟ problems in tense, sometimes they also have problems in understanding how they need to see an event-aspect

In what follow are some example sentences produced by some Bengali learners of English The examples indicate the nature of the problems these EFL learners have in using aspect properly

(11) * I am reading every day in the evening

(I read every day in the evening.)

Although „every day’ in sentence 11 indicates that the action is habitual,

hence simple in aspect, the Grade 8 level Bengali learner of English views it as temporal and therefore progressive in aspect Here the learner overgeneralizes the fact that as she reads every day, the action is in progressive aspect This phenomenon can be related to the example that is provided by Cowan (2008) that German simple sentence conforms to both English present simple and present progressive; hence, „they [German speakers of English] have troubles using the two English tenses in the appropriate context A common error is to

overgeneralize the progressive to context in which time expression requires a simple form‟

For example,

(12) Do you know Sapsucker Woods?

*Yes, my wife is often going there with the children

Alternatively, German speakers may make errors using simple present in the place of present progressive (Cowan,2008)

For example, (13)* I send you the money now

Therefore, the answer to the sentence 12 and sentence 13 are erroneous in aspect, and the problem in how the German speakers view the action here is caused by their German L1 interference

The following ill-formed sentence (14) was produced by a Bengali learner of English:

(14) * I am studying English for twelve years

(I have been studying English for twelve years.)

Bengali EFL learners are often seen to produce sentences like (14) This

occurs as within Bengali language temporal progressive aspect (e.g I am playing football) is not usually distinguished from the progressive activity that started in the past but extends to the present (I have been playing football for seven years)

For Vietnamese learners, according to Phap Dam in “Analyzing Some Persistent Errors in English Made by Vietnamese Speakers”, when necessary,

Vietnamese grammar can express time adequately by means of placing one of

several aspect-marking particles in front of the main verb, notably “đã” (for past),

“đang” (for present), and “sẽ” (for future):

“Hắn đã gặp một bạn cũ tuần rồi.”

[He past-marker meet one friend old week just past]

“He met an old friend last week.”

“Ông thầy đang dạy ngữ pháp tiếng Việt.”

[Mr teacher present-marker teach syntax language Viet]

“The teacher is teaching Vietnamese syntax.”

“Khi có thì giờ tôi sẽ thăm bác tôi tại Houston.”

[When have time I future-marker visit father‟s older brother my in Houston]

“When I am free, I will visit my uncle in Houston.”

With their native tongue lacking the intricate structure of tenses and moods found in English and other Western languages, Vietnamese speakers find English tenses other than present (“He IS at work today”), past (“Mary LOOKED so happy with her parents last week”), and future (“They WILL DO it for us this afternoon”) hard to understand and use Indeed, the handling of more complicated English tenses (especially those expressed by auxiliaries and past and present participles, like “We WILL HAVE BEEN LIVING in America for twenty years by then” and “If my parents HAD BEEN rich at that time, they WOULD HAVE SENT me to a private school in Switzerland”) could qualify as the problem area in which they make the most errors The serious mismatch in tense and mood systems between Vietnamese and English and the convenient simplicity of the Vietnamese system are the reason why Vietnamese learners of English keep writing such interference-induced sentences as:

# “We live in California since 1975.”

# “ I really wish I can speak English like you.”

# “ If you are ten years younger, my brother will probably marry you.”

It is worth noting that the above sentences reflect “correct” Vietnamese syntax, and that some Vietnamese learners of English deliberately avoid using complicated tenses in English, simply for fear of making mistakes

1.5 Theoretical Foundation of Error Analysis

1.5.1 Interlanguage Theory

According to the Second Language Acquisition theory, learners build up a system for themselves which is different in some ways from their first language and second language systems, which are called Interlanguage The concept of Interlanguage , which was formerly suggested by Selinker in 1972, aimed to draw learner‟s attention to the possibility that while learning the second language, a learner may develop separate internalized mental grammar that is characterized

as distinct language variety or system with its own particular characteristics and rules differs from both his/her mother tongue and the target language

Interlanguage is typically characterized by the set of linguistic rules which can further generate novel utterances, and according to Ellis (1990), it is very important in providing the explanation for “how both children and adults acquire

a second language” (Ellis, 1990) Interlanguage productions typically have the characteristic of language that hardly conform to the general expectation on what native speakers of the target language usually produce, not a fixed translation of native language utterances, spoken utterances are not randomly produced and interlanguage is usually spoken either by adults or by children when second language acquisition is not simultaneous acquired with the first language

Selinker in 1972 further explored the Interlanguage impact on the second language learning and proposed the five fossilization processes that indicated the learner‟s tendency to stop developing their interlanguage grammar in the direction of the target language The five fossilization processes are as follow:

Table 1.1: Fossilization Process of Interlanguage (adapted from Selinker 1972)

Fossilization Process Criteria

Language Transfer Sometimes rules and subsystems of the

Interlanguage may result from transfer from the first language

Transfer of Training Some elements of the Interlanguage may result from

specific features of the training process used to teach the second language

Strategies of Second

Language Learning

Some elements of the Interlanguage may result from

a specific approach to the material to be learned

Strategies of Second

Language Communication

Some elements of the Interlanguage may result from specific ways people learn to communicate with native speakers of the target language

1.5.2 Interference of First language (L1) into Second Language (L2)

Behaviorist learning theory asserts that “old habits contribute in the way of learning new habits” and thus if taken into context, individuals who learn many languages tend to transfer the realization device from his first language into the second language prior to the cognitive notion that the first and second language share a similar meaning but failed to discern that it should be expressed in different ways (Ellis, 1990) Smooth acquisition of the second language is often interfered by the first language grammar which has already been programmed inside one‟s individual mind prior to the learning process

There are two types of transfer between mother tongue and target language which served as the reasons that explained errors made by the learners in both written and oral construction They are negative transfer and positive transfer (Khansir, 2012)

Table 1.2: Positive and Negative Transfer (Adapted from Khansir, 2012)

Type of Transfer Explanation

Positive Transfer The forms between the mother tongue and the target

language are similar

Negative Transfer The forms of the target language and those of the

learner's mother tongue are different from each other

1.6 Methods used in researching errors

1.6.1 S.P Corder‟s Error Analysis Procedure

Error Analysis Procedure have been developed by S.P Corder in 1974 commenting on the errors that can be classified through a comparison process which is similar to the process involved in the contrastive analysis procedures Error analysis is considered as a five-stage procedures The concept is thoroughly based on the original erroneous utterance and later compared with the constructed one but exclusively in term of the linguistic categories such as error in phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics

The procedures can be summarized in the five-staged procedures as being illustrated in the figures below:

Table 1.3: Error Analysis Procedure by S.P Corder

1

Choosing the language corpus

 Decide on the size of sample

 Decide on the medium of sample taken:

spoken (orally) or written (writing)

 Decide the homogeneity of the sample : background, age, type of education & location

2

Identifying error in the corpus

 There must be a difference between errors and mistakes

 Rather tedious to identify

 Only occurring errors are identified for further process/procedure

3

Classifying

 Every error committed by the respondents will be classified in accordance with grammatical aspects: phonology,

Error morphology, syntax and semantics

 More focus and emphasis are on morphological and syntactical aspects of the English language

4

Explaining Error

 An attempt is made to identify the causes of errors :

 Interlingual errors: errors are caused by mother tongue interference

 Intralingual and developmental errors:

errors occur during the learning process of the L2 at a stage when the learners have not really acquired the knowledge

5

Evaluating Error

 Involving assessing the seriousness of each error

 This step is made to make principled teaching decisions

 Error evaluation is necessary only if the purpose of the error analysis is pedagogic

1.6.2 Surface Strategy Taxonomy (Dulay, Burt and Krashen, 1982)

Surface Strategy Taxanomy proposed by Dulay, Burt and Krashen in 1982

is a taxonomy developed in analyzing errors made by the learners which consists

of several alternatives for error classification as a result of comparative categorization and communicative effect taxonomy (Dulay, Burt and Krashen, 1982) This taxonomy divides learner errors into four categories, which are Omission, Addition, Misinformation and Misordering Classifying errors using the Surface Strategy Taxonomy is very practical since it can physically highlight