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KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

ENGLISH AND LINGUISTICS DEPT.

NOTES

AEN 303

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

BY NJIRI

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COURSE OBJECTIVES

i. To expose students to theories of language learning and

their relation to language teaching.

ii. To acquaint students with the preserves of first and second

language acquisition and the universalities that obtains

between them.

iii. To acquaint students with knowledge of developments and

perspectives in areas of second language learning research

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INTRODUCTION

i. THE NOTION OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS

There is need to understand what the discipline of Applied

Linguistics entails in order to be able to contextualize the notion of

second language acquisition. Applied linguistics is an extensive

area of study that is multifaceted. It is multifaceted in the sense

that many branches of study can be identified in it. It is widely

believed by applied linguistics that perhaps the most significant

branch of Applied Linguistics is what is referred to as Foreign

Language Teaching. (FIT). The resultant effect of this perspective

is that the term Applied Linguistics is almost identical to the task

of learning and teaching of foreign language .It is as if the two

mean one and the same thing. A good number of researchers have

written and spoken at very great length upon the term Applied

Linguistics. This suggests the inadequacy of clinging to a pure

semantic definition of the term within the framework of the two

lexical items i.e. ‘Applied’ and ‘Linguitics’. As we write or speak

about the term today, the terminological problem with respect to

what Applied Linguistics entails is still largely unresolved. We can

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therefore only safely indicate that the semantic aspect of the term

is only one perspective of defining this controversial term. Us

examine the possible meaning of the two terms that constitute

Applied Linguistics as interpreted by researchers in the field such

as Els et al.1984

APPLIED

This word compares with the objectives ‘pure’ or’

theoretical when used in the expressions ‘pure linguistics’ or

‘theoretical linguistics’. In normal circumstances the applied

sciences assist in the realization of goals and objectives beyond the

actual areas of the pure sciences themselves. It is because of this

way of thinking that some linguistics do not consider Applied

Linguistics as synonymous to ’linguistics’ or even being a sub-area

of linguistics- ELs et al (1984:6). The applied science can be

divided into three typological categories.

1. The methods and findings from one branch of science may be

used to promote insights into another branch of science. This

may be exemplified by the fact that comparative linguistics

(philosophy) which is about the study of language history as

carried out by comparative philologists since the late 18th

century can borrow the methods and results of pure linguistics

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.In like manner, stylists which studies the features of situation

ally distinctive uses of language with a view of trying to

identify principals that may account for particular choices

made by individual and social groups, can also borrow from

pure linguistics.

2. The methods and findings from a particular branch of science

may be used to provide solutions to practical problems.

Example: The teaching and learning of a foreign language is

indeed a societal problem that can only be resolved by

borrowing the methods and results will inform the task of

foreign language teaching and learning.

The third method category relates to the actual application .the

teacher who is practically involved in the teaching of a second

or foreign language is actually involved in Applied Linguistics.

The teachers of English all over the country are therefore

engaged in Applied Linguistics as they endeavor to assist

learners to develop proficiency in the language.

A very important linguistics in the area of applied

linguistics in Corder (1974:5) who has restricted the term AL

to only category 2 above. Let us note the following definition

by this notable linguistics that”AL is the utilization off the

knowledge about the nature of language achieved by linguistics

research for the improvement of the efficiency of some

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practical task in which language is a central component” This

observation by Corder makes it clear that indeed Applied

linguistics is a clear beneficiency of the methods and results

that have been perfected in the area of linguistics as a science,

to him, foreign language teaching is indeed a practical task that

is informed by the findings of theoretical linguistics. A good

example is that the terminology about language is developed

by the linguistic e.g. noun, verb, adjective, adverbial e.t.c such

that the teacher as an applied linguistics can use them to teach

language.

There are other practical tasks like foreign language

teaching that benefit directly from the methods and results that

have been delineated by linguistic research. These include;

1 Translation

-translators will require to be well acquainted in the

discipline of linguistic

2 Speech pathology

-this relates to the study and alteration of speech disorders

-it is the study of speech abnormalities e.g. aphasia-which

is defined as the loss of the ability

to use or understand language particularly due to brain

damage. The loss of this ability may

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total or partial. Different types of aphasia include

a) Agraphia-difficulty in writing

b) Lexia-difficult in reaching.

c) Agramatism-difficulty in using grammatical words

like prepositions or the articles e.t.c

3.Language policy and terminology

-linguistics informs government on matters relating to

language.

4.Lexicography

-those who are involved in dictionary making borrow

heavily from the findings of linguistics.

A very literal interpretation of the term ‘applied’ is illustrated by

the following quotation from

Corder (1973; 10) that “The application of linguistics knowledge to

some objects-or applied

Linguistics as its time implies-is an activity. It is not a theoretical

study. The applied linguist is a

Consumer or user not a producer of theories’. It is due to this claim by

corder that some researchers have

Interpreted him as saying that Applied Linguistics is not a science in

its own right, but merely a technology

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based on ‘pure’ linguistic. Others have argued that AL is a science in

its own right and not simply a

consumer or user of theories. The debate still continues.

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Linguistics

For quite sometime after the founding of the discipline of Applied

Linguistics, the discipline solely depended

On the findings from theoretical or pure linguistics. This was occasioned

by the widespread assumption that

In order to be able to teach any language effectively, one needed only to

be aware of how the particular

Language in question was structured. This view was especially popular

due to the teachings of the linguistic

Orientation of structural Linguistics (Bloomfield 1933). Structural

linguistics supported the use of the foreign

Language teaching methods such as grammar-translation (a method of

teaching foreign and second language

Making use of translation and grammar study as the main teaching and

learning activities. For example Latin

And Greek was initially taught using this method.

Of late however, the sole dependence on theoretical linguistics

by Applied Linguistics has been

abandoned in the teaching of foreign languages Henry Sweet (1899) of

the Reform Movement was of the a

Opinion that the knowledge and awareness of the psychological laws on

which memory and ideas depend

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Could greatly improve or enhance foreign language teaching if combined

with theoretical linguistics. Due to

His views for example,authers have in the last few decades maintained

that indeed there is more than one

Discipline at the basis of foreign language teaching. In addition to

theoretical linguistics and its sub-branches

, they have identified the contribution of psychology, sociology,

pedagogy (which relates to language teaching

Syllabus design and teaching materials),education etc.

FLT

Theoretical linguistics psychology sociology

pedagogy

It has therefore become most apparent to the experts in the field that

theoretical linguistics alone cannot

Supply all the vital information for foreign language teaching. As a

result some have rejected the term Applied

Linguistics al together and look for a term to refer to what Applied

linguistics normally suggests or narrow the

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Field to a level where theoretical linguistics is the principle contributing

discipline. Some linguistics believe that

The problems of terminology have been resolved by interpreting

Applied linguistics in its widest possible tense i.e.

The field may be called AL if linguistics is taken to refer not only to

research into the structure of language but

also into the psychology and sociology thereof.

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THE DEFINATION OF LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Language

We can define the phenomenon of Language on the basis of its

structure (form)and function. From a

Functional perspective, language is the most important medium of

communication among human beings. It is

The system of human communication by means of a structured

arrangement of sounds (or their written

Arrangements)to form larger units. This is a definition by Richards et al

(1985;153-154)who also add that in

Common usage, language can also refer to non-human systems of

communication such as the ‘language’ of

Bees, the ‘language’ of dolphins. we may however note that strictly

speaking, language is peculiar to the human

Species and is universal within it. In other words all human beings are

capable of mastering the use of verbal

Communication unlike the animals. one may even claim that this ability

to learn and use language is the one

Sure characteristic that differentiates human and animal’s

behavior.language behavior passes as the most

Peculiar or unique form if human behaviour.

A language communication behaviour involves two parties i.e.

the sender of the message such as the

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Speaker or writer, and the receiver or consumer of the message such as a

listener or reader. the sender uses

Auditory(or relating to hearing)and visual(of or relating to sight)codes in

order to communicate with the

Receiver. the following diagram illustrates this language behavior.

Sender Code receiver

Speaker or

Written Oral or written Listener

Reader

In this diagram, the sender sets language behaviour in motion as he

engages in language production in

Order to do this he encodes his messages in form of oral or written

language behaviour.The receiver decodes

The messages in the process referred to as language comprehension.

After comprehension, it is envisaged that

The receiver will react in a particular way. This constitutes a functional

or utilitarian approach to the definition

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Of language.

The structural approach to the definition of language rests on

the premise that speech or language

Is based on a linguistic code.consequently,the sender of the message

must be familiar with this code in order

For communication to take place. if this condition is not satisfied

communication will be impossible. the

Linguistic units that constitute the code are in hierarchy as follows:

Texts

Sentences

phrases

Words

Morphenes

Phonemes(phores)

As is clear from these diagrams the hierarchical order of the linguistics

code which in the focus of theoretical

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Linguistics includes.

1.Phonemes

_this is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can

distinguish between two words.

_each language has vowels and consonants and phonemes

with distinctive features and particular

distributional features. For example the English language has

44 phonemes i.e. 24 consonants

and 20 vowels.distributionally,the /D/sound as in sing only

occurs word finally in English unlike

in Bantu languages where it may occur word initially.

2.words

_each language has content(nouns,adjectives,adverbs,and

verbs)and functional(prepositions,

conjunctions etc)lexical items.

_each language has its own peculiar morphological procedures

that relate to derivation and

inflection.

3.phrases

_the noun phrases and verb phrases can also be identified in all

languages.

_comparable syntactic relations exist between noun and verb

phrases and sentence constituents

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e.g subjects,predicator,object e.t.c

4.sentences(clauses)

_in all languages, various types of speech acts are enacted in

course of communication such as:

a) Questions as compared to statements

b) Negations as compared to statements

c) Indirect as compared to direct speech acts.

d) Coordination and enbordination devices.

5.Texts

-Sentences may be combined into larger communication chunks

such as monologues, dialogues,

paragraphs interviews etc.

-Discourse analysis is the focus of these larger aspects of

communication than the sentence.

Language Learning.

Language production and language comprehension may be

interpreted as process of linguistics

Input and linguistic output. Linguistic input will involve the production

of phonemes,words,phrases,and sentences

And texts. this is what we referred to as encoding. Linguistic output will

involve the comprehension of the same

Aspect of language i.e. decoding.

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The study of the mental processes that a person uses in

producing and understanding language is

Called psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistic research/investigation into

language behaviour focuses on the

Hierarchical production of these units of language. this is due to the fact

that language learning relates

To the development of the hierarchial skills and abilities of producing

and comprehensing phonemies,words,

Phrases etc.consequently research into language learning involves all

these linguistic levels.

Ellis (1985:299)has defined language learning quite broadly as

“the internalization of rules and

Formulas which are then used to communicate in the second language; in

this sense it is synonymous with

‘acquisition’.Krashen(1981)has used the term to refer to the process of

developing conscious or met lingual

language through formal classroom study. what we notice from

Krashen’s view is that second ‘language

acquisition’s contrasted with ‘language learning on the assumption they

could be two different processes.

‘Acquisitions’ is the picking up of a second language through mere

exposure to the language in use.’ learning’

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on the other hand is used to refer to the conscious or deliberate study of a

second language in a formal

situation i.e. through consciousness-raising. This distention is particularly

emphasized by Krashen in his Monitor

Model of second language acquisition. The distinction constitutes the

most critical of the five hypotheses that

Make up the model. Despite this however, some linguists like Ellis(1985)

draw no distinction between the two

Terms and prefer to use them interchangeably.

Second language acquisition may therefore refer to the

subconscious or conscious processes by

Which a language other than, the first language or mother tongue is

learnt or acquired in a natural or tutored

Settings. As already noted, it covers all the main domains of language

such as phonology, lexis, grammar,and e.t .c

Research has however been confined to morph syntax (grammar).

In conclusion we may note that the study of second language

acquisition is meant to account for the learners linguistics

competence or mastery of the code. This mastery translates into the ability

to read, listen, write and speak using the target language or the language of

acquisition. Linguistics investigate how a learner performs when he or she

a second language empirically through the analysis the learners second

language corpus or linguistics production. This is because of the obvious

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impossibility of opening up of the learners head for inspection as to how

much he has acquired. The corpora serve as windows through which the

system that the learner has internalized can be viewed. In other words the

learner’s actual linguistic utterances or sentences (performance) are used

by researchers as a mirror for the knowledge that the learner has

internalized (competence). One problem in second language acquisition

research is achieving an effective ‘mirror’ for this competence. In other

words how can research affair enough data that will decidedly help him to

measure the true competence of the second language learner.

THE CONCEPTS OF FIRST, SECOND AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

First Language.

Its is variously referred to as native language, the learners mother tongue or the

language acquired first(first Language).We then speak of First Language Acquisition

which occurs when the learner acquires one. If it is one language, we talk of Monolingual

first Language Acquisition which is the most thoroughly investigated form of language

learning .The less frequent case for example in Western European societies or in Kenyan

urban centers where a child two languages in parallel is called Bilingual First Language

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Acquisition. In a multilingual situation where a child learns a number of languages

simultaneously, his first language wills the one he is most comfortable in using.

Second Language

It has been observed that this is a language, which after acquisition in either

tutored or untutored environments become the vehicle of communication in conjunction

with the first language. In ideal or typical situation it is acquired in a social situation in

which it is actually spoken for example English in Kenyan urban areas, French among

German speaking Swiss population Klein.(1988).

Richards et al (1985) have observed that a second language is one not native to a country

but which is widely used as a medium of communication e.g. in education and in

government and which is used alongside another language or languages.

Foreign Language.

Klein (1988) has observed that this is a term that denotes a language that is

acquired in an environment where is normally not in use i.e. usually through instruction.

After acquisition the learner in ordinary day-to-day situation does not use it but in limited

and specialized contexts e.g. Latin in school Childs curriculum. Richards et al (1985)

says that a foreign language is not native to a country .It is studied either for

communication with foreigners who speak it or for reading printed materials in the

language. In Britain for instance, a foreign language is one that is taught as a school

subject but not used as s medium of instruction in schools or as a language of

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communication within a country as in business, industry, in government e.t.c. This may

be exemplified by the foreign language status of English in France, Japan and China.

EARLY THEORIES OF LANGUAGE LEARNING.

THE BEHAVIOURIST THEORY

It is otherwise called behaviorism or behaviorist psychology. It is a theory of

psychology (study of human behaviour), which states that human and animal behaviour

can and should be studied in terms of physical processes only. Until the end of 1960’s

ideas about language learning/acquisition came from a general theory of learning.

Behaviorism was the major school of, psychology, which dominated discussions on

language learning. Language was seen as verbal behaviour and not mental phenomenon.

The two important notions that can summarize the behaviorist theory are

a. Habits

b. Errors

Habits.

The advocates of the behaviorist theory considered language learning as a process

of habit-formation. The behaviourist psychology explained behaviour by monitoring the

responses that took place when specific stimuli were present. The behaviorist therefore

explained and described behaviour using a Stimuli-Response Model(SR-Model).the

Stimulus produces a change or a reaction in an individual or organism. The Response is

the behaviour produced as a reaction to stimulus. The stimulus is an external event while

the response the caused change of behavior in an individual. The behaviorist did not use

concepts like 'mind' or ‘ideas’ or any kind of mental behavior. The believed that a

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connection is established between a stimulus and the organism’s response to the stimulus.

The learner exhibited various responses to different types of stimuli. The responses

could be regular or irregular, predictable or unpredictable. The link between the stimulus

and the response is what the behaviorists called a HABIT. Psychologists such as Watson

(1924) and Skinner (1957) tried to examine this regular or predictable behaviour that

resulted from the interplay between stimulus and responses. Their focus was to establish

how habits were formed in an organism.

As a result, the behaviourist psychologists identified two characteristics of habits

as follows:

I. They should be observable.

II. They were automatic (reflexive)-Performed spontaneously without

consciousness unless changes in the environment caused the extinction of the

stimuli upon which they were founded.

According to Watson therefore habit-forming occurred when a stimulus ‘elicited’ a

response. When it occurred quite frequently makes the response to be fully practiced and

therefore automatic. These ideas are summarized in what is called Watson’s Classical

behaviourism.

In B.F Skinners neo- behaviourism the role o the stimulus is toned down since it

was not always possible to establish which stimulus produced or was responsible for a

specific response. This was a point of criticism that as we shall see later was raised by the

distracters of the theory; Skinner attached significance to the consequences of the

particular response. He argued that it is the behaviour that was consequent to the response

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that reinforced it and thus helped to strengthen the association or link between the

stimulus and its response.

The mastery of the habit could therefore take place through IMITATION as a

result of the learner copying the stimulus behaviour sufficiently often for it to become

automatic or through REINFORCEMENT as a result of the learners response being

rewarded or punished depending on whether it is fit or otherwise until only appropriate

response are manifested. As Ellis(1985)has observed, the habit-formation theories were

general theories that were only applied to language learning. Language was assumed to

be a behaviour and not mental phenomenon. Like other forms of behaviour it was learnt

through a process of habit-formation. In first language (L1) acquisition, children were

assumed to acquire their L1 by imitating adult utterances (sounds and patterns) with their

efforts at language use either rewarded (reinforced by approval) or corrected .To obtain

more of these rewards, the child repeats the sounds and patterns so that these become

habits. This way the child’s verbal behaviour is conditioned (shaped) until the habits

coincide with adult models. It was believed that in this way the children mastered the

patterns (syntax) or habits of the L1.

It was assumed that the acquisition of L2 would follow a similar process. The

learner could identify the stimulus-response connection that formed the L2 habits through

imitation and reinforcement. The habits-formation theory in L1 and L2 acquisition

existed in the 1960’s.it offered a theoretical account of how learner’s L1affected the

process of second language acquisition (SLA). Other that portraying SLA as habit-

formation, it explained why errors characterized the linguistic production of L2 learners.

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Errors

It was assumed in the behaviourist learning theory that L1 rules (old habits)

would stand in the way of acquiring the L2 rules (new habits). Bright et al 1970:236

claimed that in SLA “the grammatical apparatus programmed in the mind as the first

language interferes with the smooth acquisition of the second “This constitutes the notion

of INTERFERENCE which is crucial in the behaviourist account of SLA. It was believed

that interference was the result of previous learning of the first language preventing or

inhibiting the learning of the second language new habits. Interference was otherwise

referred to as PROACTIVE INHIBITION. As an example, in SLA, the L1 and L2 may

have a common meaning but realize it differently in linguistic terms such that an occurs

in L2 as the learner transfers the ‘realization device’ from his L1 in to the second. This

may occur when a Gikuyu speaker learning English expresses the meaning of ‘being

cold’ that is common in both Gikuyu and English by saying “Nindiraigua heho”(I hear

cold) instead of ‘I feel cold’ in English borrowing directly from his LI. In the same vein,

Gikuyu L1 has no /L/sound such that a Gikuyu learner of English will tend to articulate

/L/as /r/(which is present in the L1) in most of the instances where it occurs in English

words. The dholuo learners of English will also articulate the Articulate the English /s/ as

/s/ since their L1 does not have the former. In all these examples, the L1 old habits inhibit

the acquisition of the L2 new habits, which is a clear case of proactive inhibition. The

learning of L2 involves developing new habits of the target language (second Language)

wherever L2 habits or rules differ from the L1.In other words, for acquisition to occur,

the learner must overcome proactive inhibition.

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We have some instances however where the L1 and L2 may share the same

meaning and the same realization device. Ellis (1985) has given an example of German

and English sharing the meaning of age e.g the syntax for expressing age in the two

languages may have a one to one correspondence as in

Ich bin zwanzig jahre alt (German)

I am twenty years old (English)

When this transfer of the realization device from L1 to L2 occurs the learner will only

have learnt that the realization device is similar in both languages. Acquisition in this

situation undoubtedly easier for the learner due to the agreement in realization device

The phenomenon of transfer is crucial in behaviourism. The behaviourist learning

theory predicts that TRANSFER occurs from L1 to L2 as in the example already

discussed in the preceding paragraphs, In case of proactive inhibition, NEGATIVE

TRANSFER was assumed to occur causing ERRORS. Instances of POSITIVE

TRANSFER were also postulated as when the Gikuyu learner of English articulating

English words with the sound /r/which is in his L1.His previous knowledge of the sound

/r/ facilities instead of inhibiting the acquisition of the English /r/positive transfer is

therefore the situation where L1 and L2 habits are the same and therefore no errors occur.

We can then claim that L1 and L2 differences will create learning difficult for the learner

and therefore errors while L1 and L2 similarities will facilitate quick and easy learning

that is error-free.

Supporters of the behaviourist learning theory considered the occurrence of errors

as a sure proof of non-learning i.e. a clear indication that the learner has been unable to

overcome proactive inhibition. Consequently, to the behaviourist errors were undesirable

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and had to be avoided as the plague. To realize this objective therefore, there were efforts

to predict when errors would occur. By comparing the learner’s L1 with the L2, points of

differences could be pinpointed to constitute areas of potential error. The task of teaching

and learning would then be to focus on these problem areas in order to help the learner

overcome the effects of L1 transfer. The assumption was that teaching and learning

would not focus on areas of similarity, which were considered easy to learn. The means

to predict potential errors are as Ellis (9185) has observed, embodied in the procedure

called CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS, which is the focus of our attention from now.

CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS AND CONTRASTIVE HYPOTHESIS.

Richards et al (9185) has defined contrastive analysis (CA) as the comparison of

the linguistics systems of two languages for example the sound system or the

grammatical system.CA was developed and practiced in the 1950s and 1960s and is

based on the following assumptions according to Richards.

a) The main difficulties in learning a new language are caused by interference

from the L1

b) These difficulties can be predicted by CA

c) Teaching materials can make use of CA to reduce the effect of interference.

CA developed from the practical and the utilitarian need of teaching L2 as

efficiently as possible. The origins of Ca were pedagogic in nature as observed by Lado

(1957) who was the prime movers and initiators of CA in the following statements, “The

teacher who has made a comparison of the foreign language with the nature language of

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the students will know better what the real problems are and can provide for teaching

them.”

His book Linguistics Across Cultures; Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers was

for many years the bible of foreign language teachers. ado’s claim is that comparison

between the L1 and L2 would isolate areas of the new habits to be learnt as they would

confront the learner with learning difficulty. The most difficult areas of the L2 are those

that differ most from the L1.Lado continues to say that ‘those elements that are similar to

his L1 will be simple and those elements that are similar to his L1 will be simple and

those elements that are different will be difficult’. As already noted in the preceding

sections, teaching was then meant to concentrate on the points of difference. The problem

areas would then require massive practice and conscious understanding. The structurally

analogous/similar units between the two languages need not be taught.

Ellis (1985) has observed that CA had both a psychological linguistic theoretical

aspects. The psychological aspect was based on the behaviourist learning theory while

the linguistic aspect was based on the grammatical theory of structural linguistics as

explained by Bloomfield (1933) as a approach to linguistics which emphasis the

significance of language as a system and which investigates the place that linguistic units

such as sounds, words, sentences have within this system e.g. sound distribution in word

initial position, medially or finally. We now examine the two major aspects of CA in

some detail.

The psychological aspect of CA

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Ellis (1985) has observed that the CA psychological justification takes the form of

contrastive Analysis hypothesis (CAH).Wardlaugh (1970) has claimed that CAH can be

summarized into two forms or versions i.e. a STRONG and a WEAK form. In the weak-

strong gradience, the hypothesis has a number of variants, which take different positions.

Strong Form

This asserts that ALL L2 errors can be predicted by isolating the differences

between the learners L1 and L2.This is summed up by Lee (1968-180) who observes that

the strong form underscores the fact that the prime cause or even the sole cause, of

difficult and error in foreign language learning is interference coming from the learner’s

nature language’. It has to be noted that statement of the effect of L1 on L2 acquisition in

very absolute terms was particularly popular before the empirical evidence to the effect

that most of the errors produced by L2 learner’s were not explicable with recourse to the

L1.In other words the strong form of CAH was fashionable only before research proved

that large chunk of errors made by L2 learners were not traceable to their L1

Weak Form.

This form claims a weaker role of L1 in L2 acquisition. It considers CA as only

diagnostic in the sense of being only able to identify errors that may have resulted from

interference. The assumption here is that there must be other errors not due to L1

interference. It was therefore necessary for Ca to be used together with Error Analysis

(EA) such that all errors are first identified in a corpus (linguistic production-data) of

learner language before CA could be used to isolate errors that could be traced to

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differences between the L1 and L2.As already mentioned this weak form implicitly

assumed that interference is not the sole cause of errors. In other words as Ellis (2000)

has observed, the weak form supports a less dominant role for the L1 than the strong

form.

It is to be observed that today the strong form has very few supporters. This is

because empirical event has shown that L1 is not the sole or even the principal cause of

grammatical errors in learner language. The effect of the old habits is not as fundamental

as it was earlier believed to be. In the same breath, the weak form is also not quite

plausible for it is not quite reasonable to rigorously contrast two languages just to confirm

that errors that were initially assumed to be due to interference were indeed so.

It has been observed that the psychological aspect of CA should actually focus on

the conditions under which interference occurs. It should account for instances when

differences between L1 and L2 can cause transfer errors and when they cannot.

Explaining errors psychologically is necessary because it is not possible to explain

transfer errors solely on the basis of L1-L2 linguistic differences. There is need to

establish whether there could be extra- linguistic factors that may determine whether and

when interference occurs such factors are as follows.

a) The setting for SLA

-this refers to the context in which SLA occurs i.e. in naturalistic SLA,

interference may not be a critical factor

because learners have extensive and intensive exposure to the L2.

-In tutored or formal setting, learners may use L1 between classes, which

strengthens proactive inhibition.

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b) The stage of learner’s development.

Elementary and intermediate learners have noted _it that there are

quantitative differences in errors - the

elementary learners have not interacted enough with the L2 and therefore

invoke the L1 more than the intermediate learners they rely more on the

phenomenon of transfer. The intermediate learners will mainly invoke

or rely on the learning strategy of overgeneralization e.g. the use of the

regular past suffix{ed} in regular verbs as in go-goed instead of went

come-comed instead of came.

The Linguistic Aspect of CA

This aspect relates to the tool or the linguistic means of carrying out CA.

Comparison of two or more languages may be done using any model of grammar. In its

inception, CA used the model of structuralist linguists like Bloomfield (1933) and Fries

(1952). The model emphasized a detailed scientific description of languages on a

description of various categories that constitute the patterns of a language. These

categories were described or defined in very formal terms and were established from the

linguistic data (inductively).

Most contrastive studies have been based on surface structure characteristic as

described or suggested by the structuralists the procedure followed was as follows in

terms of steps:

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1. Description

A formal description of the two or more languages was made. Halliday

(1961) has observed that linguistic

Descriptions are organized within a framework of categories i.e. unit,

structure, class and system which are

Universal and are necessary and sufficient as a basis for the description of

any language. Let us examine each

One of them:

a) Unit

-The units of grammar are enough for description of English and other

languages

-These include a rank scale of sentences, clauses, phrases, words, and

morphemes.

b) Structure

-Refers to the arrangement / making up a unit e.g English clause

element; subject, predicator, complement,

adjunct e.g.

The cat caught a mouse yesterday

c) Class

-There are restrictions on which units that can operate at given places in

structures. only the verb phrase can fill the predicator slot in a clause, and

only the noun phrase (NP)can fill the subject slot in the clause e.t.c.

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d) System

–Each language allows its speakers choices from sets of elements, which

are not determined by the place, which the element is to occupy in the

structure e.g.

i. Nominal class phrase (NP) fills the subject slot in a clause but

there is freedom to choose between plural or singular nominal

phrase

ii. Predicator

-The VP can either be past or present in tense

2. Selection

-Particular items such as the entire subsystem of the auxiliary or mood or areas

known to present difficulty through EA are selected for comparison.

3. Comparison

-Areas of difference or similarity are identified which really constitute the

procedure or activity we are calling CA

4. Prediction

-The researcher specifies or identifies the linguistic items that likely to cause

difficulty and the errors that the learner will be disposed to make. This constitute

the believe that is called CAH.

-These predictions can be the basis of determining which language items to five

special treatments in the L2 courses that are taught or the pedagogic materials to

write to assist in the task of teaching and learning of the L2

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-For the items determined intensive techniques. e.g. repetitions or drills are used

with a view to helping the learner overcome proactive inhabitation (interference)

and therefore establish the necessary new habits of the L2.The techniques used

formed he basis of the development of the audio-lingual or audio-visual courses

(films, TVs, Videos etc)

CRITICISM OF THE CAH

Three major criticisms were leveled against the CAH. We can enumerate

them as follows:

1) Empirical criticism

2) Theoretical criticism

3) Practical criticism

1. Empirical Criticism

This relates to research and the predictability of errors. There were doubts

concerning the effectiveness of CA to predict errors. It was not long before

researchers established the existence of non-interference errors in their empirical

findings. Consequently, the issue became not whether proactive inhabitation or

interference was responsible for ALL errors but whether proactive indeed it was

responsible for MOST of the errors .A very important research by Dulay et al

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(1970,1973) identified four types of errors according to their pyscholinguistic

origins .These are reported in Ellis(1985)

a) Interference-like errors

-Those the reflected L1 structure and not found in L1 acquisition data i.e.

errors a child makes when learning L2 which L2 native speakers learning

their language don’t make.

b) L1 development errors not reflecting L1 structure but are found in L1

acquisition data. In other words there are

L1 developmental errors as made by an English child learning English i.e.

overgeneralization errors.

c) Ambiguous errors

-they found errors that could not be categorized as either interference like

or developmental.

d) Unique errors

-errors that do not reflect L1 structure and are not found in L1 acquisition

data.

These research findings constituted a devastating attack on CAH. The researchers

attributed only 3% of the errors to interference which indicated that comparison between

L1 and L2 could not assist in pre4dicting or explaining much about the process of SLA as

observed by Ellis (1985). It should of course be noted that some other researchers

indicated higher percentage of interference errors in their findings. There has been a

major problem in attempts to empirically.

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2.Theoretical criticism.

One theoretical issue relates to the vicious attack of the behaviourist account of

language learning that was intensified by Chomsky’s (1959) critique of Skinners verbal

Behaviour.The psychological basis of the language learning theories as explained by the

behaviourists was struck and intensely questioned. For example Chomsky argued that

Skinner’s animal behaviour in laboratory conditions could not show nothing about how

human beings acquire language in naturalistic setting. He found the terminology

‘Stimulus’ and ‘response’ rather inadequate and deficient since one could not fell which

stimulus in particular accounted for a particular speaker response. The term ‘analogy’

which skinner used to explain the ability of the speaker to produce novel sentences was

seen as incapable of demonstrating the individuals creative use of language. The

creativity that characterizes language acquisition from Chomsky's perspective could also

not be captured by terms such as ‘imitation’ and ‘reinforcement’. This was especially

held to be the case since it became obvious that parents in L1 acquisition milieu, rarely

corrected formal errors or rewarded suitable utterances that children produced. These

children were believed to be capable of imitating utterances that were within their range

of competence and could therefore not master new habits of this way. This criticism was

initially directed against L1 acquisition but later it was also directed against L2

acquisition.

Due to this criticism, it became apparent that if language learning could not be

explained through habit formation then the bahaviourist nation of interference was bound

to be unacceptable and definitely flawed. This was because interference was believed to

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be cause by the L1 old habits standing on the way of L2 new habits. In other words the

L1 rules were assumed to obstruct the smooth acquisition of L2 rules. The obvious

question became what interference consisted of if it did not involve negative transfer.

Another point of criticism is that CAH had the idea of equating ‘difference’ with

'difficulty' and ‘difficulty’ with ‘error’. The critics of the bahaviourist theories questioned

this. They argued that the term ‘Difference’ was a linguistic notion while ‘difficulty’ was

a psychological notion. The level of difficulty could therefore not be inferred from the

degree of linguistic difference between two language systems. The view that difficulty

led to error was also criticized as empirical evidence showed that the linguistic items that

were predicted to be difficult through CA did not necessarily precipitate errors.

3.Practical criticism

This criticism was raised on the question on the question as to whether CA is of any

practical value to language teachers. This was because if it was the case that proactive

inhibition was not the sole cause or even the main cause of learner errors, CA was of very

limited use in the classroom situation. It was also seen to the practice that language

learners were presented with linguistic items that were both similar and different from

their L1 in the classroom situations. It is to be remembered that the purpose of CA was to

identify the points of difference between L1 and L2, which alone could be taught using

various techniques. It even the points of similarity were being also taught, the rationale

for Ca was found wanting. In other words why carry out CA if every item easy or

difficult needs to be presented and practiced.

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The main criticism about CA from a pedagogic perspective emanated from the

rapidly changing attitudes to the role of error in language learning. CA was developed

with the express need to preclude or avoid error in learner language. Researchers started

seeing error as an acceptable and positive indication of hypothesis-testing such that the

need for a preventive programme of errors became doubtful. As the weak form of CAH

advocated CA is only useful when used on complementary basis with EA to explain why

some errors occur. Formal CA intended for the identification of instances of L1

interference may not be necessary since after all identification of L1 interference is a

weaker use of CA than prediction.

WEAKNESSES OF THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH TO SLA

From the 1960s onwards and particularly under the influence of Chomskys

linguistic theories and cognitive psychology, the bahaviourist view of acquisition was

challenged as follows;

a) Language acquisition started being viewed not merely as verbal bahaviour. Beneath

the overt behaviour involving the

linguistic production of utterances was a complex system of finite rules which allow

speakers to create or generate and

understand infinite number of new and novel sentences. The mere reliance on

individual bits of learnt behaviour could not facilitate this creativity.

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-the knowledge of these rules is our competence that is made up of a body of rules

schematized in the mind and is different from performance, which is the production of

utterances and is observable.

b) The learners therefore internalize abstract knowledge of rules (competence) contrary to

what they are exposed to performance or input). The extraction of competence (rules)

from performance cannot be explained by habit formation.

c) The learning task is complex but it was observed to occur at very early stage with

exceptional speed between the age of 31/2 years and 5 years, normal children have

internalized all basic structure in L1.Habit-formation alone cannot explain this

phenomenal rate of acquisition.

d) Although all children in a speech community are practically exposed to different actual

utterances, they acquire the same rules and pass through similar developmental sequences

or routes. From the very beginning, children acquire their own rule-systems, which they

slowly adapt in the direction of adult normal speech. They model their language through

hypothesis-testing. This phenomenon suggests that external forces are not just

conditioning (shaping) the children’s language. Their language is being creatively

constructed by the child through interaction. This thought is captured in the creative

construction Hypothesis as explained by Dulay et al who define it as the subconscious

process by which language learners gradually organize the language they hear according

to the rules they construct to understand and generate sentences.

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ERROR AND LEARNING.

THE CONCEPT AND TYPES OF ERROR IN LANGUAGE LEARNING.

Investigation into the process of language acquisition tries to answer two

important questions i.e.

a)What is it that is learned/acquired

b)how does learning occur?

The first question what addresses the issue of the product or outcome of the learning

process. The second question how addresses the process through which learning takes

place. Hypotheses about the process of learning a language are inferred from the

linguistic products of the learners. This is because the learning process actually occurs in

the learner’s head and is therefore not open to the investigators direct inspection.

We have already observed that language learning cannot be achieved through a

process of imitation of the environmental input data as advocated by the bahaviourists

After 1960, research studies into language learning portrayed the children’s language

behaviour as being characterized by the subconscious application of well defined rule-

systems. These systems were indeed not in agreement with the adult rules systems. They

differed widely which indicated the learner’s creativity is portrayed by the following

diagram from Els et al (1984)

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INPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEM IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

INPUT INTERNAL MECHANISM OUTPUT

Child’s pry cognitive Child’s

linguistic

Linguistic data organizer

behaviour

In this diagram the child receives primary linguistic data from the environment, which

consequently triggers or activates the cognitive organizer. The cognitive organizer is part

of the learners internal processing system that is responsible for organizing or processing

the input into a system. It is responsible for the transitional stages through which the

learner passes. It is believed to operate subconsciously and is comparable to Chomsky’s

language Acquisition device (LAD – the capacity to acquire ones L1, when this capacity

is pictured as a sort of mechanism or apparatus. It was assumed to include a basic

knowledge about the nature and structure of human language. It was offered as an

explanation of why children develop competence in their L1 in a relatively short time,

merely by being exposed to it-Richards et al (9185:154) The cognitive organizer is there

the instigator of the child’s linguistic behaviour as portrayed in the diagram.

The belief that the child’s linguistic behaviour deviated widely from the adult’s

linguistic norm inflicted a serious blow on the concept of ‘error as explained by the

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behaviourists. This is because up to this moment error presupposed the norms and

standards of the mature speakers. Errors or deviations from the adult norms started being

seen as in the words of Els et al (1985:49) "inevitable, necessary and systematic stages in

language learning process and are taken to constitute (subconscious) hypotheses by the

child about the language to be learned”. As a result of this belief or assumption, the child

attained the status of an active as opposed to being a passive participant in the process of

language learning.

In L2 learning, learners also produced systematic deviations from the adult norm.

Traditionally these deviations or errors did not receive enough attention from linguists or

teachers. They were only discussed in teaching publications in a very casual manner. For

instance, in these publications they were assumed to be regrettable offshoots of L2

learning, which could or had to be avoided as much as possible especially with the help

of efficient teaching. Instructors wrongly believed that L2 learners assimilated only what

they were taught and could not motivate language learning on their own. They were

tabula rasa according to this new. Just in case errors occurred proactive inhibition was

held responsible in the sense that as already observed, the existing L1 old habits

prevented the evolution of correct speech or new habits of the L2.Errors were treated as

sighs of learning failure and were not to be forgiven.

Later on however the L2 learners were seen as actively constructing rules from input

data and adapting these rules in line with the L2 such that the learners speech could be

analyzed in its own terms as a rule-governed system. The learner’s errors could no longer

be interpreted as sighs of the failure to learn. They were sighs or evidence of the language

learner’s developing systems. Errors could therefore shed light as to how the learner

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processes environmental input. According to Littlewood (1984; 22) errors offer ‘hints

about the learning strategies and mechanisms which the learning is employing’.

It is in this context that CA lost its appeal and was seen as deficient in its ability to

predict errors. For instance, if it is the case that learners are actively constructing a

system for the L2, all their apparently erroneous linguistic productions cannot be

simplistically construed to be out come of mere transference of rules from L1 to L2.We

would therefore expect many of these erroneous productions to be explicable by direct

reference to the L2 itself i.e. as sighs of the learner’s creativity and innovativeness. The

analytic procedure of error analysis revealed precisely this state of affairs.

In addition to then transfer errors, which resulted from L1 interference (i.e.

interlingual errors), the language learners exhibited errors that show that they are

processing the L2 in its own terms (i.e. intralingual errors). These intralingual errors are

essentially similar to the errors noted when children are acquiring their L1.As already

noted elsewhere in the preceding sections, these are the errors that formed the majority in

Drulay et al (1970,1973) research findings as already discussed. These errors suggest that

the learner is using similar learning strategies such as overgeneralization and

simplification as noted by Littlewood. By analyzing both the interlingual and intralingual

errors, which are a product of the learning process, we are able to deduce the underlying

psycholinguistic process of learning.

Linguists have classified errors into competence and performance errors. The

interlingual and intralingual errors are good examples of competence (knowledge) errors.

This is because they result from the application of rules by the L2 learner, which do not

yet correspond, to the L2 norm. Errors of performance are the result of mistakes in

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language use and manifest themselves as repeats false start, corrections or slips of the

tongues or of the pen e.g.

1. They asked to keep to keep

the pen away.(repeat)

2. They wanted they said they

wanted to leave (correction +

repeat)

OVERGENERALISATION AND TRANSFER.

Overgeneralization.

Most of the intralingual errors exhibit the same process of overgeneralisation

that is evident in L1 acquisition. We can define overgeneralisation as a phenomenon that

involves the use of existing L2 knowledge by extending it to new interlanguage

(language of the learner as it approximates the L2) forms. It is indeed a manifestation of

the study of relying on prior knowledge to facilitate new learning within a given

language. It can also be defined as the use of a linguistic rule beyond the normal domain

of that rule.

The language learners in both L1 and L2 have been observed to produce

errors like ‘comed’ ‘goed’ ‘putted’ etc which can only be explained as manifestation of

the extension of some general rule to items not covered by this rule in the L2.It is this

phenomenon that is called overgeneralisation. In other to avoid errors, generalization of

rules necessitates the learning of exceptions to the rules that are generalized for example

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a) In the formation of English plurals, an English L1 or L2 learner may have

learnt the rule such as the addition of the bound morpheme {s} to countable

nouns e.g boy(s), goat(s) etc. The rule for the formation of plural in ‘mouse’ is

an exception that should be learnt singly but learners may overgeneralise

and say;

I saw three mouses (instead of mice).

2) In the English past tense, learners will continue extending the past tense

rule for regular verbs i.e. {ed} to the

irregular verbs e.g. ‘comed’ ‘goed’ until the exceptions to the rule are

learnt e.g ‘came’ and ‘went’.

Errors are the product of learning and from them we can make deductions

about the learning process. The examples cited above are errors of overgeneralisation and

the same term may be used to refer to the learning strategy that they allow us to infer.

The learning strategy is indeed that of generalization. It has been observed through

psycholinguistic research that the first learnt items tend to be overgeneralization e.g. it

occurs regular verbs, which are learnt first e.g.

Hear _ heared

Choose _ choosed

Sleep - sleeped.

Transfer

Ellis 1985:304-305 has observed that transfer is the process of using

knowledge of the L1 in learning a L2.Transfer can be positive when a first language

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pattern identical with a L2 pattern is transferred (positive Transfer0.It can also be

negative when a first language pattern different from the L2 pattern is transferred

(negative transfer) such that a L1 induced errors occur (interlingual errors).

Transfer and overgeneralisation are not entirely different processes. Their

underlying learning strategy is essentially similar. This similarity involves the learner

using what he already knows about language in order to make sense of the new linguistic

experience. In case of ‘transfer’, the learner uses his previous knowledge of L1 to deal or

handle L2 input. In overgeneralization’, the learner uses the previous knowledge of the

L2 to deal with the new data of the L2 or target language.

Empirical evidence indicates that transfer errors are more in the beginners’

linguistic production as they have little previous knowledge of the L2 to depend on in the

formation of hypotheses about the target language rules. It is practically more economical

and beneficial for the L2 learners to transfer knowledge of the L1 or L2 to the new task.

They don’t start as empty rates. Transfer errors occur especially in the psychological

domain as the example given earlier of the Gikuyu learner who is unable to use articulate

/c/in some words in English since it is not in his L1.

FORMS OF SIMPLIFICATION AS LEARNING STRATEGIES

Simplification has been defined by Ellis (1985) as the attempt by learners to each

the burden of learning in various ways. It consists of attempts by the learner to control the

range of hypotheses he attempts to build at any single stage in his development. He does

this by restricting the formation of hypotheses to those hypotheses which are relatively

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easy to form and can facilitate communication. It is can be manifested by a number of

strategies such as overgeneralisation and transfer already discussed. Other strategies that

evidence simplification include.

1.Semantic simplification.

This occurs when the learner simplifies the sentence plan by reducing the

prepositional elements that are linguistically coded. He uses what are called truncated

sentences or utterances. He for instance selects particular elements for encoding and

omits others, which are inferred by the listener from extralinguistic signals. The omitted

elements are semantic i.e. content words e.g nouns, adjective, verbs and adverbs. This

may be exemplified by the following situation where person A touches person B. A full

linguistic description of this event from B’s viewpoint might be

He is touching me -analysed as

Subject + verb + object

The learner who is linguistically unable to say this will produce any of the following

shortened versions

a. Touching – verb only

b. He touching – Subject + verb

c. Touching me -Verb + object

d. He me -Subject +object

We may pose the question as to what determines the shortened version that the learner

uses. The answer may be any of the following;

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a)the linguistic resources available to the learner e.g he may not know the verb

‘touch and therefore alternative(d)

b) The constituents, which he feels, will be maximally informative in terms of

his communicative goal and the context of

the situation.

NB:-semantic simplification is very useful in shedding light on the

processes of both L1 and L2 acquisition.

2)Linguistic simplification

This learning strategy involves the omission of form words (grammatical or

functional words) such as articles, prepositions, conjunctions etc it also involves the

omission of affixes (prefixes, infixes, suffixes) some examples of this phenomenon

include;

a. He touching me (auxiliary ‘be’ is omitted)

b. Daddy want (s) (a) chair

May be omitted

C Kamau (s) car

May be omitted

D These book (s) are expensive

May be omitted

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E cup glass

‘a’ ‘and’ ‘a’ may be omitted

f where ball - where is the ball

omitted

3.Redundancy reduction

Redundancy refers to a situation where a message contains more information

than is needed for it to be understood. An example is given by Richards et al

(1985:241) by noting that English plural may be shown on the demonstrative the

noun and the verb as in:

These books are expensive

If the ‘s’ in ‘books’ is left out, the message would still be understand. The ‘s’ is

therefore redundant in this context. Learner language may exhibit this kind of

omission in which case we consider it a form of simplification called Redundancy

Reduction: This is because as in the example it eliminates many items, which are

redundant to conveying the intended message. If the situation supplies the missing

elements of meaning, much greater reduction can occur. Redundancy reduction eases

production but may make comprehension difficult or even impossible.

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ERRORS ANALYSIS

We have already encountered the notion of Error Analysis and have tried

to define this analytic procedure. In this section, we discuss the mechanics of

conducting EA and identify its major steps as follows:

1.collection of a sample of learner language.

2.indentification of errors

3.description of errors

4.explanation of errors

1. Collection of the sample

This is the starting point of EA i.e. deciding what samples of learner

language to use and how to assemble them. We identify three broad types of EA

according to the size of the sample

A)Massive sample

-several samples from many learners

-Yields comprehensive list of errors representing entire population

b)Specific sample

-one sample from a limited number of learners.

c) Incidental sample

-One sample of language use by a simple learner

Errors can be influenced by many factors e.g different errors in speaking and in

writing. There are also variation of errors according difference in L1.The learner

language used in the sample should preferably reflect natural or spontaneous language

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use although not much data is obtainable this way. This shortcoming seems to justify

some measure of elicitation as through interviews, composition writing etc. Another

factor to consider is whether the sample will be collected cross-sectionally (single point

in time) or longitudinally (successive points over a period of time)

2. Identification of Errors.

At this point the issue is determining what constitutes an errors and the

procedure of recognizing one. Error is defined as a systematic deviation from the norm of

the second language i.e. the standard written dialect. The researcher will need to

differentiate between ‘error’ and ‘mistake’ since error portrays lack of competence while

mistake is due to the failure by the learner to perform his or her competence. Mistakes

may be due to inability to access the learner’s knowledge of a target language rule and

fall back on some alternative that they find earlier to access.

Mistakes are even manifested in native speaker speech due to processing failure as a

result of plans e.t.c. EA should focus on errors not mistakes.

Procedure For Identifying Errors

Corder recognized the significance of ‘interference’ and identified 3 types

a. Normal Interference

-The analysts able to assign meaning to an utterance on the basis of target

language rules i.e.’ not apparently erroneous ’but may be right by

‘chance’.

b. Authoritative interpretation

-If the learner is available, the researcher should ask him the meaning of the

utterance –The horses own mouth.

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–This should yield an authoritative reconciliation.

c. Plausible Interpretation.

-The analyst should contextualise the utterance i.e. consider the context in which

it was made in order to reach its meaning.

3. Description Of The Errors

This takes the form of a comparison of the learners interlanguage

utterances in the target language i.e. determine the way those utterances ought to

have been uttered in the target language. The analyst should focus closely on the

surface properties of the utterance ignoring the possible sources of error.

The simplest type of descriptive classification of errors is based on

linguistic categories e.g. as in traditional pedagogic EA, the categories may

correspond to those n structural syllabuses and language textbooks e.g. linguistic

categories such as

q Clauses

q Auxiliaries

q Passive sentences

q Conjunctions

q Complements e.t.c.

Each general category is then broken down into sub-categories e.g.

Auxiliary

o Do

o Have

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o Be

o Modals

Other general linguistic categories were identified by Politzer and Ramirez (1973) such

as

q Morphology

q Syntax

q Vocabulary

This form of classification/taxonomy allows detailed description of particular errors and

qualification of a corpus of errors.

The is an alternative to a linguistic classification of errors is the use of a surface

Strategy Taxonomy which highlights the modes of alteration of the surface by such

occurrences such as

o Misordering of certain items

o Omissions of certain items

o Addition of certain items

This may be exemplified by the following .

Category Description Example

Omission Absence of an item that She jumped.

Must appear in a well

Formed utterance.

4. Explanation of errors.

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This relates to the determination of the source of the error i.e. accounting for why

it was made. It has been noted that this is perhaps stage for second language acquisition

research as it involves an attempt to establish the processes that are responsible for L2

acquisition. Taylor (1986) has identified a number of possible errors sources as follows:

a) Psycholinguistic

This relates to the nature of L2 knowledge system and the difficulties

learners have in using it in production.

b) Sociolinguistic

It concerns issues such as the learner’s ability to adjust or adapt their

language in consonance with the social context e.g. formal and informal

e.g.

c) Epistemic

It concerns lack of world knowledge by the learner.

d) Discourse

Involves problems in the organization of information into a coherent

(meaningful) text.

Abbott (1980:124) has however observed that generally SLA research has principally

focused on the first i.e. the psycholinguistic as the following observation indicates, “the

aim of any EA is to provide a psychological explanation.

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