An error analysis of using reference in written english by secondary school studend = phân tích lỗi của học sinh THPT tong việc sử dụng phép quy chiếu trong tiếng anh viết

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Direction of reference Figure 2: Demonstrative reference Figure 3: Comparative reference Table 1: Personal reference Table 2.1: Results of sectio

VINH UNIVERSITY

FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT

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

STUDENT: TRAN THI ANH THI

AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF USING REFERENCE IN WRITTEN ENGLISH BY SECONDARY-SCHOOL

STUDENTS( PHÂN TÍCH LỖI CỦA HỌC SINH THPT TRONG VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHÉP QUY CHIẾU TRONG

TIẾNG ANH VIẾT)

GRADUATION THESIS

FIELD: LINGUISTICS

VINH, 2007

( PHÂN TÍCH LỖI CỦA HỌC SINH THPT TRONG VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHÉP QUY CHIẾU TRONG

TIẾNG ANH VIẾT)

GRADUATION THESIS

FIELD: LINGUISTICS

Supervisor: Vũ Thị Việt Hương, M.A

Student : Trần Thị Anh Thi, 44 B1

VINH, 2007

First of all, I should like to express my heart-felt gratitude to M.A Vu Thi VietHuong, my supervisor, who has given me precious advice, valuable materials andgreatly essential corrections for accomplishment of this thesis

I should also like to extend my deep thanks to all my teachers in the Department

of Foreign Language for their helpful suggestion and encouragement during the time

my study has been carrying out

Finally, I am particularly grateful to my beloved family and my good friendswhose spiritual support has given me great drive to complete the thesis

Vinh, 2007

Tran Thi Anh Thi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EA : error analysis

etc : et cetra

i.e : That is to say

e.g : For example

N.O.T : Number of tokens

* : Unacceptable expressions

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1: Direction of reference

Figure 2: Demonstrative reference

Figure 3: Comparative reference

Table 1: Personal reference

Table 2.1: Results of section 1

Table 2.2: Results of section 2

Table 2.3: Results of section 3

Table 2.4: Number of errors and their causes in section Table 2.5: Number of errors and their causes in section Table 2.6: Number of errors and their causes in section 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT … i

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS …… ii

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES …….iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS …….iv

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Research questions of the study 2

1.4 The subjects of the study 2

1.5 Procedure of the study 2

1.6 Scope of the study 2

1.7 Method of the study 2

1.8 Design of the study 3

PART II: CONTENT 4

CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

1.1 Reference as a cohesive device 4

1.1.1 The definition of reference 4

1.1.2 Direction of reference 4

1.1.2.1 Exophora 5

1.1.2.2 Anaphora 6

1.1.2.3 Cataphora … 6

1.1.3 Types of reference 7

1.1.3.1 Personal reference 7

1.1.3.2 Demonstrative reference 10

1.1.3.3 Comparative reference 14

1.2 Errors in language learning process 16

1.2.1 The notion of errors 16

1.2.2 Error versus mistake 17

1.2.3 Error analysis 18

1.2.4 Causes of errors in second language learning 18

1.2.4.1 Interlingual errors 18

1.2.4.2 Intralingual errors 19

a Over-generalization 19

b Ignorance of rule restrictions 20

c Incomplete application of rules 20

d False concepts hypothesized 21

CHAPTER II: THE STUDY 22

2.1 Research setting 22

2.2 Data collection 22

2.3 Error analysis procedure 23

2.4 Preliminary results and data analysis 23

2.4.1 Results of section 1 24

2.4.2 Results of section 2 24

2.4.3 Results of section 3 24

2.5 Errors and their causes 25

2.5.1 Errors and their causes in section 1 25

2.5.2 Errors and their causes in section 2 28

2.5.3 Errors and their causes in section 3 29

CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 34

3.1 Major findings 34

3.2 Implications for teaching and learning English reference 34

3.2.1 Suggestions for teaching English reference 34

3.2.1.1 Suggestions for presentation 34

3.2.1.2 Suggestions for practice 36

3.2.2 Suggestions for learning English reference 38

3.3 Suggestions for further research 39

PART III: CONCLUSION 40 REFERENCES

APPENDIX

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

To transfer the speaker’s or writer’s thought or ideas to the listener or reader inthe process of using English language, the learners are drawn to approach therecognization and creation of coherence of the text Textual coherence can be acheived

by cohesive devices such as: grammatical and lexical ones Therefore, studying textualcohesive devices should be taken into consideration Among cohesive devices, referenceplays the most significant role in creating cohesion and coherence of the text, so it isvery important to identify and interprete the reference items in the text because Hallidayand Hasan (1976: 306) state that “the process of identification of the referent becomes acohesive or text-forming process”

Approaching the use of reference as a cohesive device, being aware of itssignificant role in creating textual coherence, as well as recognizing proper ways inwhich it is used by both native speakers and writers make an efficient contribution toteaching and learning English

It is obvious that reference is the cohesive device often demonstrated in theexistence of the English language However, learners of English as a second language ingeneral and secondary-school students in particular often encounter a lot of difficultiesand errors in using reference It is also seen the fact that many linguists or researchershave drawn their attention to reference, this is revealed in the works of Halliday andHasan (1976), Brown and Yule (1983), Quirk et al (1985), Tran Huu Manh (1999), NgoDinh Phuong (1998), Nguyen Huu Chan (2003), but they appeared to focus little onerror analysis, espectially error analysis in using reference by secondary-schoolstudents In addition, there seems to be a neglect of reference in teaching materials,especially at low level Therefore, the one more reason to conduct this research is toidentify the causes of errors and to give out some suggestions in teaching and learningEnglish reference

For all the above-mentioned reasons, in this thesis, the writer focuses on “anerror analysis of using reference in written English by secondary-school students”

1.2 Aims of the study

The aims of the thesis are:

 To identify some common errors in using reference as a cohesivedevice by secondary-school students

 To find out the major causes of encountering these errors.

 To propose some possible solutions to the teaching and learning ofEnglish reference

1.3 Research questions of the study

The study is conducted to answer the following questions

 What type of errors do secondary-school students commit in usingreference?

 What are causes of these errors?

 What suggestions will be given in the teaching and learning process inorder that the students’errors in using reference can be reduced?

1.4 The subjects of the study

The subjects of the study are 100 students randomly chosen from two twelfthclasses ( 12C1 and 12D1) at Nghi Loc I high school They learn English as a compulsorysubject at school The majority of students have learnt English for 7 years so they haveacquired the big amount of English grammar

1.5 Procedure of the study

The procedure to analyze errors made by the students in using reference isdescribed as follows:

Firstly, all the 100 students were required to do the test under the samecondition The allowed time to do the test was 90 minutes They were not allowed touse any reference books or dictionaries and they did it under the writer’s supervision.Next, the collected data were classified and analyzed to get information on how thestudents did the test and how often reference errors occurred

1.6 Scope of the study

Halliday and Hasan (1976) identified two main types of cohesion: grammarticaland lexical cohesion: Reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjuction are cohesive devicesbelonging to the grammartical cohesion However, in this study, we only deal with thecohesive device - reference

Because of the significance of reference in creating cohesion in discourse, it isessential to use reference appropriately in written English In fact, writers tend toencounter common errors in using reference Therefore, in this study, we only focus on

an error analysis of using reference as a cohesive device in writing

1.7 Methods of the study

To meet the aims of the study, we apply both the qualitive and quantitativemethodologies to collect students’errors Collected errors will be classified andanalyzed to find out their causes and sources Basing on that, suggestions will beproposed for teaching English reference.

The test is designed in a written form with different language contexts toprovoke errors in using reference The test will be done by a sample of 100 studentsfrom two twelfth classes randomly chosen in Nghi Loc I high school without the use ofreference books or dictionaries and under the writer’s supervision

1.8 Design of the study

There are three parts in this research paper:

Part A: Introduction

In this part: The rationale, aims, research questions, subjects, procedure, scope,methods and design of the study are mentioned

Part B: Content

This part consists of three chapters:

Chapter I: Theoretical background

Chapter II: The study

Chapter III: Findings and discussion

PART II: CONTENT

CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 REFERENCE AS A COHESIVE DEVICE

1.1.1 The definition of reference

Linguists have introduced similar definitions of reference: For example, Halidayand Hasan (1976, p.31) defined reference as “a semantic relation that ensures thecontinuity in a text” It contains items that can not be interpreted in their own right, butthey make reference to something else for their interpretation

For example:

There were two wrens upon a tree.

Another came, and there were three.

( Haliday and Hasan 1976, p.31)

The item “another” in the second sentence is interpretable only by reference back to “wrens” in the first.

In Yule’s view (1997, p.17) reference is provided as “an act in which a speaker,

or writer uses linguistic forms to enable a listener or reader to identify something

Hence, reference can most generally be understood as the relationship betweenwords and something else including the things, actions, events, and qualities they standfor

Reference items in English consist of pronouns, (e.g: he, she, it, him, they and

etc), the article THE, demonstrative adverbs (e.g: now, then, here, there) and

comparative reference items like so, such, as, another, the same and etc We will dicuss

all of these reference items respectively in the sections: 1.1.3.1, 1.1.3.2, 1.1.3.3

1.1.2 Direction of reference

When we analyze discourse, there are often three types of discourse direction:backward, forward and outward We, linguistically, call these types of directionAnaphora, Cataphora and Exophora respectively For the English reference items, whatrefers back to is anaphoric reference, what refers foward is cataphoric one and whatrefers outward the text is exophoric one

Haliday and Hasan’s study (1976) have given the diagram of reference asfollows:

( Haliday and Hasan, 1976, p.33 )

Figure 1: Direction of Reference

1.1.2.1 Exophora

Reference to assumed, shared worlds outside of a text is exophoric reference.According to Halliday’s view (1985, p.20), exophoric reference is understood as “amean of linking outwards to some persons or objects in the environment” Exophoricreference often directs us to the immediate context because it is quite clear for thereader or listener to interprete what the text is Sometimes the reference is not in theimmediate context but is assumed by the speaker or writer to be part of a shared worldeither in terms of knowledge or experience, in other words, he expects us to share aworld with him independent of the text

For example: The minister must speak on that subject.

( Quirk and Greenbaum, 1976, p.27)

The speaker assumes that the listeners will know which “minister” are being

talked about Usually it means “our minister” or “that of the country we are talkingabout”

When the learner is difficult to understand the meaning of reference items or toget coherence in a text, he needs to consult some sourses of encyclopaedic information.Therefore, in the process of language learning, one of essential things is that the learnermust get a gradual familiarization with the culture context of second language

For example:

Can I borrow your Shakespeare?

Yeah, It’s over there on the table.

(Yule, 1997, p.20)

The word “Shakespeare” refers to “A book is written by Shakespeare”.

1.1.2.2 Anaphora

Richards et al (1992, p.16) defines anaphoric reference as “a process where aword or phrase refers back to another word or phrase which was used earlier in a text orconversation”

For example:

a, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai begins his visit in Seattle, where he

is expected to meet with Microsolf chief Bill Gates, and also sign a contract tobuy four Boeing 787 planes for the Vietnam Airlines fleet

(Voanews, June.18, 2005)

The reference items “his” and “he” refer back to “Prime Minister Phan

Van Khai”

b, The leaders highly valued the significance and content of the HN

Action Plan, regarding it as a foundation for APEC economic and trade

coperation in the next 15 years

Richards et al provided the definition of cataphora as follows: “the use of a word

or phrase which will be used later in the text or conversation is called cataphora” (1992,p.47)

On discussing cataphora, Nunan (1993, p.116) defines cataphoric reference as “aform of cohesion in which the proform (the items used to stand in for the text referent)occurs first and can only be interpreted with reference to subsequent text”

Here are some examples:

a In his recent talks with the English-language daily Vietnam news, Horst

G.Geicke said “All young population of Vietnam work very hard ”

(Vnanet, Nov.17, 2005)

b This should interest you, if you’re still keen on boxing The world heavy

weight championship is going to be held in Chicago next June, so you should be able

to watch it live

(Quirk and Greenbaum, 1976)

c Here is the news A diplomat was kidnapped last night in London (radio

announcement)

In (a) “his” refers forward to “Horst G.Geicke”, in (b) “this” refers forward to

“the world heavy weight championship is going to be held in Chicago next June”, in (c)

“here” refers forward to “a diplomat was kidnapped last night in London”.

Speaker Addressee Specific Generalized

Human Human Non-human

one I me

mine my you you

yours your

he himhis his it it

[its] its

one one -one’sshe her

Table 1: Personal reference (Halliday and Hasan,1976, p.44)

Example: A palestinian man held in Bristain without charge for three years has been permitted to leave jail if he makes a payment.

The word “it” differs from all other personals is that “it” may refer not only to a

particular person or object but also to any identifiable portion of text This actuallycomprises two rather distinct phenomena, both of which are illustrated in the followingexample:

[The Queen said:] “Curtsey while you’re thinking what to say It saves time”.

Alice wondered a little at this, but she was too much in awe of the Queen to disbelieve

it

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.52)

In the first instance, it saves time, it refers to curtsey[ing] while you’re thinking

what to say In this case, “it” is of extended reference

In the second instance, to disbelieve it, the “it” refers not to a thing but to a

fact: [that] curtsey[ing] while you ’ re thinking what to say saves time This is an

instance of text reference.

(2) Generalized exophoric reference

Not only the generalized personal one but also we, you, they and it all have a

generalized exophoric use in which the referent is treated as being as it was immanent inall contexts of situation

For example: You never know, one never knows

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.53)

“You” and “one” mean “any human individual”.

(3) Personal pronouns, possessive determiners and possessive pronouns

Besides the personal pronouns, the possessive determiners and possessivepronouns are the other two categories of personal Neither the syntactic function of thepersonal itself, nor the syntactic function of its referent, has any bearing on theanaphoric relation between the possessive determiners and possessive pronouns; in thisrespect reference is quite unlike substitution In the example below, the personal

reference item he is a pronoun functioning as Head; this refers back to John equally well whether John in non-possessive proper noun as Head as in (a), possessive as

Deictic as in (b), or possessive as Head as in (c)

John has moved to a new house.

John’s house is beautiful He had it built last year.

That new house is John’s.

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.54)

Likewise the other personal forms, both possessive determiners (my, your, etc)

and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, etc) may refer without restriction to a referenthaving any of the functions that is open to nominals So we could have any combination

of the following:

a John has moved to a new house x He had it built last year.

b John’s house is beautiful y His wife must be delighted with it

c That new house is John’s z I didn’t know it was his

( Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.55)

Where (x) has personal pronoun he, (y) has possessive determiner his and (z) has possessive pronoun his.

(4) Cataphoric personal reference

The third person pronoun it can refer cataphorically to clause, as in the below

examples:

a I would never have believed it They have accepted the whole

theme.

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.56)

The personal reference “it” refers to “their accepting the whole theme” “it” in

this case is cataphoric

b It never should have happened She went out and left the baby

c Before he joined the Navy, Gerald made peace with his family.

d = Before Gerald joined the Navy, he made peace with his family.

(Quirk et al, 1985, p.351)However, when the conditions of subordination are not fulfilled, there is no equivalent of the kind illustrated in (c) and (d)

e Jacqueline thinks she understands me.

f ≠ She thinks Jacqueline understands me.

(Quirk et al, 1985, p 351)

While she can easily corefer to Jacqueline in (e), such coreference is impossible

in (f), so that here she and Jacqueline must be understood to refer to two different

people

1.1.3.2 Demonstrative reference

Nunan (1993, p.23) indicates that “Demonstrative reference is expressed through

determiners and adverbs (this/these; that/those; here/there) These items can present a

single word or phrase, or much longer chunks of text-ranging across several paragraphs

or even several pages”

Halliday and Hasan(1976, p.57) hold that: “ Demonstrative refrence isessentially a form of verbal pointing The speaker identifies the referent by locating it

Figure 2: Demonstrative Reference

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.57)Discussing demonstrative reference, Halliday and Hasan (1976) classify it into 3subtypes: circumstantail demonstratives, nominal demonstratives and THE The

circumstantial (adverbial) demonstratives - here, there, now and then refer to the location of a prosess in space and time The nominal demonstratives - this, these, that,

neutral the

near

far (not near)

those and THE refer to the location of something, typically some entity-person or object

that is participating in the process they therefore occur as elements within the nominalgroup Each subtype will be mentioned in more detail The first discussion is onnominal demonstratives

(1) Nominal Demonstratives

(i) Near and not near: this/these versus that/those

This/these and that/those regularly refer anaphorically to something that has

been said before In dialogue, there is some tendency for the speaker to use this/these to refer something he himself has said and that/those to refer to something said by his

interlocutor

a There seems to have been a great deal of sheer carelessness

This is what I can’t understand.

b There seems to have been a great deal of sheer carelessness

-Yes, that is what I can’t understand

c I like the lions, and I like the polar bears These are my favourites.

- Those are my favourites too

(ii) Singular and plural: this/that versus these/those

In general, the distinction follows the expected pattern: this/that refer to count singular or mass nouns, these/those to count plural nouns.

Therefore, we may note simply that the plural forms may refer anaphorically notmerely to a preceding plural noun, but also to sets that are plural in meaning

For example:

“Where do you come from?” said the Red Queen “And whereare you going ? Look up, speak nicely, and don’t twiddle your fingers allthe time”

Alice attended to all these directions, and explained, as well as

she could, that she had lost her way

( Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.62)Conversely, the singular demonstrative may refer to a whole list irrespective ofwhether or not it contains items that are themselves plural

( Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.62)

(iii) Head and modifier: this,that etc, as pronoun versus this,that etc, plus

“Now the cleverest thing I ever did” the Knight went on after a

pause “was inventing a new pudding during the meat-course I don’t believe that pudding ever was cooked.”

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p 62)

It is possible to omit the second pudding and say I don’t believe that ever was

cooked But we can not do like this for a human referent.

For example:

I must introduce you to the surgeon who looked after me when I was

in hospital That surgeon really did a fine job, and nothing was too much

trouble for him

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p 62)

We can not replace that surgeon by that.

(iv) Anaphoric and cataphoric Demonstratives

In the study (1976), Halliday and Hasan show that that is always anaphoric, this may be either anaphoric or cataphoric.In addition, the demonstratives this and that may refer to a clause, a sentence and a sequence of sentences (Quirk et al, 1985:375) Let’s

see some following examples:

a They will probably win the match That will please my mother.

( Quicrk et al, 1985, p.375)

b I can’t get any reliable information This is what worries me.

c This is what worries me: I can’t get any reliable information.

( Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.76)

In (a), that refers back to “their winning the match”; in (b), this refers to “I can’t

get any reliable information” and it is anaphoric; in (c), this refers forward to “I can’t get any reliable information”, in this case this is cataphoric.

(2) THE

According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), THE like the demonstratives, is aspecifying agent, serving to identify a particular individual or subclass within the classdesignated by the noun, but it does this only through dependence on something else – itcontains no specifying element of its own The reference is either exophoric orendophoric.

(i) Exophoric THE

If it is exophoric, the item is identifiable in one of two ways:

- A particular individual or subclass is being referred to, and that individual orsubclass is identifiable in the specific situation

For example: Don’t go, the train’s coming

( Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.71)

Where the train is interpreted as “the train we are expecting”.

- The referent is assumed by the speaker or writer to be part of a shared worldeither in terms of knowledge or experience

For example: The government are to blame for unemployment.

(Mc Carthy, 1991: 39)

(ii) Anaphoric THE

Halliday and Hasan show that the anaphoric reference with THE is cohesive Wecan clearly see that in the following example:

She found herself in a long, low hall which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging

from the roof There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked

(Halliday and Hasan,1976, p.72)

(iii) Cataphoric THE

Cataphoric reference, with the, is limited to the structural type The can never

refer forward cohesively It can only refer to a modifying element within the samenominal group as itself

For example:

The ascent of Mount Everest

The party in power

The people who predicted a dry summer

The longest stretch

In the above instances, the is, as always, a signal of identity; or rather, of

identifiablity, showing that criteria for identifying WHICH ascent, WHICH party etc isintended are recoverable

(3) Demonstrative adverbs

According to Halliday and Hasan, there are four of these demonstrative adverbs:

here, there, now and then Now is very rarely cohesive Three of them (there, then, now)

need to be distinguished from their homographs Demonstrative there is to be distinguished from pronoun there as in there’s a book on the table Demonstrative now

is to be distinguished from conjuction now as in now we will move to the next part Demonstrative then is to distinguished from conjunction then as in then he took the girl

to the hospital.

As reference items, here and there closely parallel this and that, respectively.

For example:

“ Do you play croquet with the Queen today?”

“ I should like it very much”, said Alice, “but I haven’t invited”

“ You’ll see me there”, said the Cat, and vanished.

( Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.74)

The temporal demonstratives then and now are much more restricted in their cohesive function The cohesive use of demonstrative then is that embodying anaphoric

reference to time; the meaning is “at the time just referred to”

For example:

In my young days we took these things more seriously

We had different ideas then.

The use of now is confined to the instances in which the meaning is “this state of

affairs having come about”

Figure 3: Comparative reference

( Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.76)

(1) General comparison

Halliday and Hasan indicate that “general comparison” is meant comparison that

is simply in terms of likeness and unlikeness, without respect to any particular property:Two things may be the same, similar or different General comparison is expressed by acertain class of adjectives and adverbs The adjectives function in the nominal group

either as Deitic (eg: identical in the identical two cards) or as Epithet (eg: identical in

two identical cards) The adverbs function in the clause as Adjunct (eg: identically in the others performed identically).

General comparison expresses likeness between things The likeness may takethe form of identity, where “two things” are, in fact, the same thing, as in (a); or ofsimilarity where “two things” are like each other, as in (b)

It is the same cat as the one we saw yesterday.

It is a similar cat to the one we saw yesterday.

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976:78)

(2) Particular comparison

Halliday and Hasan (1976) show that “particular comparison” meanscomparison which is in respect of quantity or quality It is also expressed by means ofadjectives or adverbs; not of a special class, but ordinary adjectives and adverbs in somecomparative forms

identity: same, equal,

numerative: more, fewer, less,

further, additional, so-, as-,

equal-Epithet: comparative adjectives and

adverbs eg: better, so, as, more, less,

equally, equally good

Comparison

general(deictic)

particular(non-deictic)

Particular comparison expresses comparability between things in respect of aparticular property The property in question may be a matter of quantity or of quality.

If the comparison is in terms of quantity, it is expressed in the Numerativeelement in the strucrure of the nominal group; either by a comparative quantifier (eg:

more in more mistakes) or by an adverb of comparison submodifying a quantifier (eg:

as in as many mistakes).

If the comparison is in terms of quality, it is expressed in either of two ways: (i)

In the Epithet element in the nominal group, either by a comparative adjective (eg:

easier, more difficult in easier tasks, more difficult tasks), or by an adverb of

comparison submodifying an adjective (eg: so in so difficult a task); (ii) as Adjunct in the clause, either by a comparative adverb (eg: faster in Cambridge rowed faster, or by

an adverb of comparison submodifying an adverb (eg: as in she sang as sweetly).

(3) A note on SO, SUCH, and AS

In principle they can be regarded as variants of the same word, which takes the

form such when it is an adjective, so when it is a free adverb and as when it is a bound

adverb

We find so and such used simply as intensifiers, meaning “extremely”.

For example:

That exercise is so difficult

Our neighbours are such a nuisance.

So and such become structurally cataphoric in the following examples:

That exercise is so difficult that no one can do it.

Our neighbours are such a nuisance that we may have to move.

So, such, and as occur in the usual type of cataphora where the referent is a

Qualifier

For example:

( Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.58)

1.2 ERRORS IN LANGUAGE LEARNING PROCESS

1.2.1 The notion of errors

Such an efficient man as John

So efficient a man as John

A man so/as efficient as John

is unlikely to be taken

Error is a common phenomenon which is unadvoidable in the process oflearning a language It is defined by many different authors.

Dulay et al (1982, p.13) holds that errors are understood as “the flawed side oflearner speech and writing, those parts of conversation or composition that deviate fromsome selected norm”

According to Corder, errors are “the result of some failure of performance”(1971, p.152)

James in “Methodology in TESOL” (1987) defines an error as an utterance,form or structure that a particular language teacher seems unacceptable because of itsinappropriate use or its absence in real life discourse

James (1998) proposes error as being an instance of language that isunintentionally deviant and is not self-corrigible by the learner

In brief, errors are caused by the incomplete understanding of languagecompetence

1.2.2 Errors versus mistakes

The concept of errors is paid much attention in the process of learning a secondlanguage Distinction between the two terms “errors” and “mistakes” was madealthough it was impossiple to indicate any sharp differentiation

Chomsky (1965) commerced the work of distinction by pointing out that errorsfall into two different types: one originating from verbal performance factor and theother from inadequate language competence

In 1967, the error – mistake distinction was introduced into modern debate byCorder He made use of Chomsky’s distinction by associating the term “mistakes” withfailure in performance and “errors” with failure in competence He attributed mistakes

to psychological factors such as fatigue, lack of attention or lapses of memory anderrors to the learner’s internalizing the language during the second language learningprocess Mistakes are said to be unsystematic in nature while errors systematicdeviations from the rule of the target language

Corder (1967, p.167) indicated that mistakes are of no significance to theprocess of language learning since they do not reflect in our knowledge but are traceable

to performance failure Both native speakers and learners may take mistakes Errors, onthe contrary, are of significance to the process of language learning They do reflectknowledge and are not self – correctable Only learners of a second language encountererrors

In one word, the distinction between the two terms “error” and “mistake” cannot be made to be clear Errors are caused by the incomplete understanding of languagecompetence, and mistakes are caused by the inappropriate use of language inperformance.

1.2.3 Error analysis

In the process of learning, foreign language learners often commit errors whichare caused by many reasons They manifest the learners’ creative capability of usinglanguage Finding and analyzing errors by learners; therefore, are significant to improvelearning and teaching quality

Error analysis (EA) has been defined by many linguists in different ways.Richard et al (1992) defined EA as follows:

EA is the study and analysis of the errors made by second language learners.

EA may be carried out in order to (i) identify strategies which learners use in language learning; (ii) try to identify the causes of learners’ errors; (iii) obtain information on common difficulties in language learning, as an aid to teaching or in the prepration of teaching materials (p.27)

Cook (1993, p.22) holds that “Error analysis was a methodology fordealing with data rather than a theory of acquisition” With the view of EA, in 1998,James states “Error analysis is the process of determining the incidence, nature, causesand consequences of unsuccessful language”

1.2.4 Causes of errors in second language learning

Second language learners often trigger a numerous amount of errors It isclaimed by Richards (1992) that there are two main causes of errors that learners oftenencounter The first is orginated from the interference of mother tongue This kind istermed by interlingual errors The second is regardless of learners’ mother tongue and iscalled intralingual and developmental errors

1.2.4.1 Interlingual errors

In the second language acquisition process, learners’old habits from their nativelanguage get in the way of learning new habits and cause errors in second languagelearning Corder’s study shows that:

“ One explanation (of second language errors) is that the learner is carrying over the habits of his mother tongue into second language Clearly this explanaion is related to a view of language as some sorts of habit-structure”

(Corder, 1971, p.158)