1

ENGLISH 111 ERROR ANALYSIS

TASK #2

Prepared By

MANGUDANG, SYRILE T

MAED/ENGLISH

Submitted to

PROF. MICHAEL JENNARINE DE LEON CRUZ

1) Explain the role of error analysis in language learning.

Error analysis is a very important area of applied linguistics as well as of second

and foreign language learning. It is also a systematic method to analyze learners'

errors. Errors are not always bad, rather they are crucial parts and aspects in the

process of learning a language. They may provide insights into the complicated

processes of language development as well as a systematic way for identifying,

describing and explaining students' errors. Errors may also help to better understand

the process of second and foreign language acquisition.

They may provide insights into the complicated processes of language

development as well as a systematic way for identifying, describing and explaining

students' errors. Errors may also help to better understand the process of second

and foreign language acquisition

2) Determine and explicate the premise of error analysis on the study of

linguistics.

Error Analysis is one of the major topics in the field of second language

acquisition research. Errors are an integral part of language learning. The learner

of English as a second language is unaware of the existence of the particular

system or rule in English language. The learner’s errors have long been
 3

interested for second and foreign language researchers. The basic task of error

analysis is to

describe how learning occurs by examining the learner’s output and this includes his/her

correct and incorrect utterances.

Error Analysis, a branch of Applied Linguistics emerged in the sixties to reveal

that learner errors were not only because of the learner’s native language but also they

reflected some universal strategies. This is a reaction to Contrastive Analysis Theory

which considered native language interference as the major source of errors in second

language learning what behavioristic theory suggested. “Applied error analysis, on the

other hand, concerns organizing remedial courses and devising appropriate materials

and teaching strategies based on the findings of theoretical error analysis” “the field of

error analysis may be defined as dealing with the differences between the way people

learning a language speak and the way adult native speakers of the language use the

language”. It is a systematic deviation, when a learner has not learnt something and

consistently gets it wrong, an error…A common example is using the infinitive with to

after the verb must (e.g. I must to go the shops). Let us suppose that the learner knows

the verbs want (+ to), need (+ to) and perhaps ought (+ to); by analogy he then

produces must (+ to) until he has been told otherwise, or until he notices that native

speakers do not produce this form, he will say or write this quite consistently.
 4

From this developed the conception of “Interlanguage”, the proposal that second

language learners have internalized a mental grammar, a natural languages system that

can be described in terms of linguistic rules and principles. When a learner of a

language produces the processes are used in learning of the language differs from both

his/her mother tongue and the target language is called an interlanguage.

Error Analysis is a type of linguistic analysis that focuses on the errors learners

make. It consists of a comparison between the errors made in the target language and

that target language itself. Error analysis emphasizes the significance of learners‟ errors

in second language. It is important to note here that Interferences from the learner’s

mother tongue is not only reason for committing errors in his target language.

3.Cite some proponents and theories of language learning and acquisition.

1. Nativist Theory

The most well-known theory about language acquisition is the nativist theory,

which suggests that we are born with something in our genes that allows us to learn

language. It proposes that there is a theoretical language acquisition device (LAD)

somewhere in our brains that is responsible for learning a language the same way the

hypothalamus is responsible for maintaining your body temperature. If language was

partly biological, it could explain why humans seem to have far more complicated

communication patterns than any other species.

Nativist theory also suggests that there is a universal grammar that is shared

across differing languages, because this grammar is part of our genetic make-up. The

majority of world languages have verbs and nouns, although this is not true in every

instance, as well as similar ways to structure thoughts. Language is thought of as

having a finite amount of rules from which we can build an infinite amount of phrases,

and the core of these rules is somehow programmed into our brains. 

2. Interactionist approach

Or (sociocultural theory) combines ideas from sociology and biology to explain

how language is developed. According to this theory, children learn language out of a

desire to communicate with the world around them. Language emerges from, and is

dependent upon, social interaction. The Interactionist approach claims that if our

language ability develops out of a desire to communicate, then language is dependent

upon whom we want to communicate with. This means the environment you grow up in

will heavily affect how well and how quickly you learn to talk. 
 6

TASK # 3

1.What is the nature of English Language?

Language is Sound: This statement points out the primacy of the languages sounds

over the other representations in writing which are regarded as secondary phenomenon

of speech.

Language is Linear: Language is represented by using symbols for each sound and

arrange them in a linear succession similar to the sounds production order.

Language is Systematic: It is describable in terms of finite number of units that can

combine only in a limited number of ways Language is System of Systems: Each

language has phonological (or sound) system and a grammatical system, which

operates simultaneously.

Language is Meaningful: Through the acquisition of language that the child becomes

an effective member of the community.

Language is Arbitrary: No direct connection between the nature of things or ideas

language deals with and the linguistic units and combinations by which these things or

ideas are expressed.

 Language is conventional: Language can be said to be conventional as a

consequence of apparent agreement among speakers. 

Language is a System of Contrasts: What makes single speaker’s habit valid for the

speech of a community is that language is a system of differences.

Language is creative: Imaginative manipulation of the standard interlocking of the

phonological, grammatical and lexical systems which extend our awareness. Language

is Unique: Each language is unique.

Languages are Similar: All languages have certain features in common which open

the possibility of language learning.

2.What are the characteristics of the English Language?

1. Language is Arbitrary: Language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no inherent

relation between the words of a language and their meanings or the ideas conveyed by

them. There is no reason why a female adult human being be called a woman in

English, aurat in Urdu, Zen in Persian and Femine in French. The choice of a word

selected to mean a particular thing or idea is purely arbitrary but once a word is selected

for a particular referent, it comes to stay as such. It may be noted that had language not

been arbitrary, there would have been only one language in the world.
 8

1. Language is Social: Language is a set of conventional communicative signals

used by humans for communication in a community. Language in this sense is a

possession of a social group, comprising an indispensable set of rules which

permits its members to relate to each other, to interact with each other, to co-

operate with each other; it is a social institution. Language exists in society; it is a

means of nourishing and developing culture and establishing human relations.

2. Language is Symbolic: Language consists of various sound symbols and their

graph logical counterparts that are employed to denote some objects,

occurrences or meaning. These symbols are arbitrarily chosen and

conventionally accepted and employed. Words in a language are not mere signs

or figures, but symbols of meaning. The intelligibility of a language depends on a

correct interpretation of these symbols.

3. Language is Systematic: Although language is symbolic, yet its symbols are

arranged in a particular system. All languages have their system of

arrangements. Every language is a system of systems. All languages have

phonological and grammatical systems, and within a system there are several

sub-systems. For example, within the grammatical system we have

morphological and syntactic systems, and within these two sub-systems we have

systems such as those of plural, of mood, of aspect, of tense, etc.

5. Language is Productive and Creative: Language has creativity and

productivity. The structural elements of human language can be combined to

produce new utterances, which neither the speaker nor his hearers may ever

have made or heard before any, listener, yet which both sides understand

without difficulty. Language changes according to the needs of society.

6. Language is Vocal: Language is primarily made up of vocal sounds only

produced by a physiological articulatory mechanism in the human body. In the

beginning, it appeared as vocal sounds only. Writing came much later, as an

intelligent attempt to represent vocal sounds. Writing is only the graphic

representation of the sounds of the language. So the linguists say that speech is

primary.
 10

3.How can the understanding of English be enhanced through the

characteristics?

English language teachers in play a fundamental role in their learners’ learning and

academic achievement. Effective and efficient learning on the part of the students highly

depends on teachers and the actions they take in their classes. The characteristics of

effective foreign language teachers need to be investigated in-depth rather than merely

applying what was found in general education to foreign language education.

Investigating the characteristics of English perceived by teachers and students is

beneficial to teachers and students. On the part of teachers, they can check the

appropriateness of their beliefs about foreign language teaching and learning based on

current research and their colleagues’ beliefs. In addition, teachers can understand

what their students expect from them and develop their pedagogical techniques through

reflection on teaching, which will in turn enhance the complex process of teaching and

learning. For students, they can understand their teachers’ beliefs and change their

erroneous beliefs about foreign language teaching and learning

We now know that not only can we improve the personality, we can develop it in

ways we previously did not understand, or believe possible! The learning

strategies also vary based on the language skills they are learning. Language

learning strategies plays important roles in learning a language. language

learning

strategies can be visible as well as invisible. This includes learners’ behavior,

steps, techniques, thoughts and mental processes involved in learning the

language.