Error Analysis on CET4 Writing

Abstract： This essay analyzed errors that made by non-English majors in CET4 writing. First， I collected a great number of samples and elected dozens of typical examples among them. And then I made a classification and careful analysis on these elected samples by means of the knowledge I have learned and related theories created by preceding scholars. At last， I made a comparison between my research results and the outcome of the former scholars， then I gave my reason of the two different conclusions.

Key words： Error Analysis； CET4 Writing

1.Defining key terms

Error Analysis is the analysis and diagnosis of the errors of second language learners， which tends to the collect and indentify the errors made by second or foreign language learners in order to classify and explain them. is put forward by Corder in The Significance of Learner’s Errors in 1967. He suggests the following five steps in error analysis research： collection， identification， description， explanation， evaluation of errors. Then his theory is developed and popularized all around the world. Next let’s see some definitions of error. According to Corder， the pioneer of Second Language Acquisition， errors reflect gaps in learner‘s knowledge， they occur because the learner does not know what is correct. A classical definition given by him was “breaches of codes”， that is， they are the signs of an imperfect knowledge of the code， since the learners have not yet the internalized formation rules of the foreign language （59）. Error is not seen as undesirable， but as a guide to the inner working of the language learning process.

Before making error analysis， it’s necessary to make a distinction between error and mistake first. As Corder said， mistakes are the deviations in usage that reflect occasional lapses in performance （149）. Brown elaborated it clearer： a mistake refers to a performance error that is either a random guess or a slip of tongue， and it is a failure performance to a known system（64）.

2.Data collection and analysis

2.1 Data collection

Since I took part in the CET4-teaching voluntary project， I have access to collect a large number of valuable samples. Aiming for selecting some representative samples， I collect ten diaries of three students in ZJNU. They are all freshmen and from the same class. It is indispensable to mention that they do not know their diaries will be used as my important material for this thesis， and most of them wrote their diaries freely and spontaneously， these samples are expected to reveal their real competence. What’s more， I collect their diaries once a week， and there are ten weeks in all. Thanks to these advantageous conditions， I can obtain lots of valuable samples that determine accurately the different errors that learners produce at different stages of their development， at the same time， I can judge weather they make progress in a period time according to the errors they made at each week.

2.2 Date analysis

However， there exists several narrative factors that produce some unfavorable influences on my analysis. First， the sample I collected are all written patterns， which can not reveal their oral competence. Second， the topic of their diaries is also an aspect I can not control， if the topic they choose to write is familiar with them， they are expected to make less errors， and vice verse. Third， the English classes that they attended in a certain week would make an impact on their writing. Since the teachers probably emphasize a language point in the class and students bear this in mind for a period time but forgot it after sometime. As a consequence， they may not make the error concerning with this language point in this week but make the error after one or two weeks later. Besides these， there are still several factors which I can not deal with， such as the mood when they are writing diaries； the different learning experience they went through； the time they spend on their English learning every week… To minimize the impact of these passive factors， I need to be cautious about their writing process， if possible， I should communicate with these students from time to time in order to have a better understanding on the condition of their English learning.

3.Results and discussion

3.1 Date results

Table 1 Proportion of errors of each type

Types of errorsspellingmeaninggrammar

171424

Table 2 Types of grammatical errors

Parts of speech 4

Word order5

Number of noun3

Genitive2

Verb form4

Non-finite verbs2

Collocation4

In the process of analyzing their errors in these English diaries， I discovered three principal types of error. The first one is grammatical error， which is caused by their limited knowledge of English grammar. Secondly， the spelling. It includes mistakes as well. They didn’t master the vocabulary of CET4 and just depended on general impression to use them. What’s more， by talking with them， I knew that most of them didn’t have much time to recite or practice the vocabulary of CET4， let alone learning the phonetics and pronunciation rules. These negative factors result in their poor competence on spelling. The third major problem is the content of their diaries is not coherent enough. As for this type of error， the principal cause is the limitation of thinking method. On the one hand， as they didn’t get hang of the second language—English， their train of thought is surely restricted； on the other hand， the thinking methods of Chinese and western people vary a lot. According to the research of Kaplan， Chinese are accustomed to spiral thinking while occidental people are inclined to use linear thinking method.

3.2 Discussion

By means of communicating with the students sometimes， I discovered a common status quo they can’t work out in a short time： when asked to write a passage of a certain topic， some feel they have nothing to say. As Krashen said in his book Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition， only when a language learner has enough input， it is possible for him to have a good output （73）. Based on this， I think the most reliable explanation for this situation is that these students are lack of input： they read little， listen little， and spend little time on English learning. In consequence， they are always annoyed by the expression and content of their diaries， let alone paying attention to the grammar and the structure.

According to the outcome of my farther analysis and the theory of surface strategy taxonomy， I found most students making a large amount of errors because of the influence of the first language. Although they have graduated high school and had a general knowledge of English grammar， they are still in the primary learning stage and are interfered inevitably by their first language： Chinese. For instance， one of the students wrote： We had to wait the next dish. The waiting was so long. In this sentence， this student made an error of interlingual transfer. Since in Chinese， we often say： “等待如此漫長”. Then the students wrote the similar sentence in English： “the waiting was so long”， obviously this kind of saying is not received by native speaker.

In the process of evaluating their errors， the criteria I used to judge is rather strict. Both linguistic error and semantic error are needed to be corrected. Since the aim for writing English diary is passing the CET4， rather than communicating， whose aim is only expressing feelings or delivering a message. In 1984， Vann， Meyer， and Lorenz found that some academic faculty members were inclined to view all errors are equally serious—“an error is an error”（47）. This assessment is fairly pertinent for our exam-oriented education. Furthermore， as non-native speakers， we attach much importance on the accuracy of the target language. James and Hughes once pointed out that “NNS are much more severe”（Judgment of error gravity 24）， they seem to especially hard on morphological and functor errors in comparison to NS judges. Since NS regard the first language as the tool of communication， while for NNS， the major aim is succeeding in an examination， both students and teachers pay more attention on the basic rule of their second language. Only for those students who are going to live in foreign country will the emphasis lies in the effect that an error has on its comprehension. Under the strain of our exam-oriented education， it’s impossible to carry out Johansson’s theory， which suggests that errors should be evaluated by first asking whether they are comprehensible， and second whether they cause irritation （67）. For us， the only criteria can be concluded： “an error is an error”. While it differs in oral communications.

References

Corder， S.P. The Significance of Learner’s Errors. International Reviews of Applied Linguistics，9，1967.

Dulay， H.C.， Burt， M.K. Krashen， S.D. Language Two.OUP，1982.

Ellis， D. The Study of Second Language Acquisition.OUP，1974.

James， C. Judgments of error gravity， English Language Teaching Journal， 1977.

Taylor， G.C. Errors and Explanations. AppliedLinguistics，1986.

Krashen， S. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford：Pergamon，1982.

Kaplan， R. Cultural Thought Patterns in Intercultural Education. Toward Multiculturalism： A Read in Multiculturalism Education.1988.