I. Brainstorming

Learners’ language provides data for research into the nature of the learning process. How to analyze learners’ language?

II. Analysis of learners’ language

Why analyze?

Learners’ language provides data for research into the nature of the learning process. In order to gain insight into the process, researchers have engaged in the analysis of learners’ language.

Contrastive analysis

1. Definition

Compare the target language with the mother tongue. It was assumed that the greater the difference between the native language and the target language, the greater the learning problem and the potentiality to mother tongue interference.

2. Effects

Knowledge of the similarities and differences between the target language and the mother tongue is necessary for a professional language teacher, and the awareness of these is beneficial to foreign language learners.   

Error analysis

1. Definition

Error analysis is part of the methodology of the study of second language acquisition. Gorder pointed out that errors have theoretical and practical significance. They are theoretically significant in that they provide feedback to psycholinguistics in constructing theories of SLA. They are of practical significance to language teachers, indicating to them the effectiveness of the teaching materials and techniques.

2. Process of error analysis

 Identifying errors

Errors are due to the fault in knowledge of the speaker, while mistakes result from unsuccessful performance.

 Describing errors (Categorize errors grammatically) 

Omission - He came into classroom with a book in hand. 

Addition/wordy - My child goes to his school. 

Selection - I hope/wish… 

Disordering - I yesterday went to … (I, yesterday, went to …/I went to … yesterday)

 Explaining errors and analyzing reason (Trace the source of errors) 

 Interlingual factors

  Mother tongue’s influence 

 Intralingual factors

  Overgeneralization - Simplification - Cross-association

 Limitation for error analysis 

 Fail to see what learners’ language will be like if we focus on the errors.

Interlanguage

1. Definition

Interlanguage is the approximate language system that the learner constructs for use in communication through the target language.

2. Effects

From the perspective of interlanguage, errors can be seen as the evidence of learning strategies. Studies in interlanguage find that learners resort to communication strategies. The choice of communication strategies reflects the learner’s stage of development along the interlanguage continuum. The effect of using communication strategies on SLA will be an interesting topic in SLA research.