ERROR ANALYSIS AND CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK

Error Analysis and Corrective Feedback

Muhammad Khalid Mehmood

Department of English Linguistics, The Islamia University Bahawalpur

ENG-33103-34272: Applied Linguistics

Dr. Saeed Ahmad

July 31, 2021

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Table of Contents
Error Analysis and Corrective Feedback.............................................................................3
About Error?....................................................................................................................3

Error contrasted with Mistake.........................................................................................3

Error Vs Mistake..........................................................................................................3

Behaviorists’ Interpretation about Error..........................................................................3

Mentalists’ Interpretation about Error.............................................................................3

Grounds of Errors............................................................................................................4

Language Transfer – Interference................................................................................4

Intraference..................................................................................................................4

Overgeneralization.......................................................................................................4

Teaching-induced errors..............................................................................................5

Emergences of Error Analysis.........................................................................................5

ERROR ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................5

Models for Error Analysis...............................................................................................6

Collection of a Sample of Learner Language..............................................................6

Identification of Errors................................................................................................6

Description of Errors...................................................................................................7

Description of Errors...................................................................................................7

Feedback..........................................................................................................................7

Corrective Feedback........................................................................................................7

Varieties of feedback...................................................................................................8

References............................................................................................................................9
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ERROR ANALYSIS AND CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK

ABOUT ERROR?
Ellis defines error as “a deviation from the norms of the target language”He claims that
error occurs because the learner does not know what is correct; it reflects gaps in learner’s
knowledge.Corder defines errors as “breaches of the code”.Gass and Selinker state that error is
systematic as it is likely to occur repeatedly and is not recognized by the learner as an error.

ERROR CONTRASTED WITH MISTAKE

These two terms had been used interchangeably before Corder pointed out that it was
important to distinguish between ‘errors’ and ‘mistakes’.

Error Vs Mistake
According to Jamess an error cannot be self-corrected., A mistake can be self-corrected if the
deviation is ointed out to the speaker.Level of competence which a learner can achieve.,
Limitations of performance which a learner would be able to correct Reflects gaps in a learner’s
knowledge., Reflects occasional lapses in a performance. Errors are a result of one’s systematic
competence (the learners system is incorrect) i.e likely to occur repeatedly and not recognized by
the learner., Mistakes are mainly slips of the tongue or lapses, even native people make mistakes
in speech and writing.

BEHAVIORISTS’ INTERPRETATION ABOUT ERROR

Behaviorists’ view that error is considered something “undesired” and to be avoided
Behaviorists’ approach of learning basically rests on traditional procedure of habit formation
through stimulus, response, reinforcement, and practice.

MENTALISTS’ INTERPRETATION ABOUT ERROR

Mentalists’ view proposed by Chomsky takes error as something “inevitable” and
“integral part of learning process and developing competence” so mentalists stress that error
should not be treated as sign of failure but as a student step towards correct rules.
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GROUNDS OF ERRORS
We have to deal with the issue of why learners make errors and why they find it so
difficult to correct their errors. Researchers dealing with second language acquisition agree that
one of the major causes of errors is language transfer.

Language Transfer – Interference.

Language transfer refers to the influence of the mother tongue on the learning of the
foreign language. When there are no major differences between L1 and L2, the transfer will be
positive, which will make language learning easier. When there are differences, the learner’s L1
knowledge may interfere with learning L2, negative transfer will occur, which is called (mother
tongue) interference. The errors arise from the mismatch between the grammatical habits of the
learners’ mother tongue and the new grammatical patterns that the learners have to acquire in the
foreign language.

Intraference
Language learners may experience confusion when they find conflicting patterns within
the structure of the newly acquired language. Scovel (2001) calls it intraference. A good example
is the use of the third person singular suffix, which causes problems to a great number of learners
irrespective of what their mother tongue is.

Overgeneralization
Overgeneralization means that whenever learners meet a new pattern or a new rule they
think that the pattern or rule applies to all cases without exception. Errors are produced because
the learner extends the target language rule to inappropriate context ignoring the restrictions of
the structures. Overgeneralization results from the fact that the learner finds it easier to transfer
previous knowledge to produce a new pattern. A good example said by a foreign language
learner is the following:

“She must goes” Here the strong rule of using “s” in the third person singular is
overgeneralized by the learner, and he retains the “s” with the auxiliary verb.
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Teaching-induced errors

According to Corder errors can be encouraged by the teaching method, as well.

Teaching-induced errors result from different aspects of the teaching process itself that the
learners are exposed to: the classroom situation, the used material, the teacher’s language use,
the teaching method. They are difficult to identify. They may be due to the fact that the teaching
material is not appropriate to the class, or there are some deficiencies in the teaching
methodology. The teacher can also induce errors by using overgeneralization or simplification
himself in an attempt to help the learners understand the new material.

EMERGENCES OF ERROR ANALYSIS

Before the rise of Error Analysis, Contrastive Analysis is widely used between 1950s and
1960s to conceptualize the learner’s errors.

During the 1960s and 1970s Stephan Pit Corder and his colleagues established Error
Analysis to supplant Contrastive Analysis because Contrastive Analysis was not adequate for the
study of SLA as it was not able to predict a great major of errors.

ERROR ANALYSIS
Error Analysis can be defined as “technique for identifying, classifying and
systematically interpreting the unacceptable forms produced by someone learning a
foreign language using only of the principles and procedures provided by linguistics”.
It is the process of determining the incidence, nature, causes and consequences of
unsuccessful language.
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MODELS FOR ERROR ANALYSIS

Corder identified a model for error analysis which included these stages:

Collection
Identifying
Describing
Explaining
Evaluating/correcting the Errors

Collection of a Sample of Learner Language

Researchers are different from each other in their choice of data collection
methods. According to this stage, learners' errors are influenced by a group of important
factors. Ellis asserts that these factors are significant in "collecting a well-defined sample
of learner language so that clear statements can be made regarding what kinds of errors
the learners produce and under what conditions".

Identification of Errors
There are certain ways to distinguish between an error and a mistake. The first one is
associated with checking the consistency of the L2 learner's performance. If a learner sometimes
uses the correct form of a certain structure or rule and later on uses the wrong one, then it is a
mistake and can be self-corrected. However, if he/she always uses it wrongly, then it is an error.
The second way is associated with asking an L2 learner to correct his/her deviant utterance. In
case that he/she is unable to, the deviations are errors, and where he/she is successful, they are
definitely mistakes. Identification of an error is different from explaining what an error is. Corder
has provided a common model for identifying errors in the utterances of L2/FL learners.
According to his model "every sentence is to be regarded as idiosyncratic until shown to be
otherwise". His model provides a good distinction between what he calls 'overt' and
'covert'errors. If a sentence is ill-formed in terms of TL rules, it has been regarded as 'overtly
idiosyncratic' whilst the sentence that is superficially well-formed but does not mean that the
learner intends to mean has been regarded as 'covertly idiosyncratic'.
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Description of Errors
This stage of Error Analysis takes place after the identification step. No description can
be made without identifying the errors. Such a description of Foreign Language learners' errors is
a prerequisite for a good explanation of errors. Particularly, description of errors helps in serving
three major purposes. These purposes can be summarized as follows: Initially, would be to
instinctively expound all that is unstated, so as to substantiate an individual’s instinct. The
second purpose can be as a prerequisite for counting learners' errors. A third purpose is to create
categories and subcategories for errors which can help in the process of developing a
comprehensive taxonomy of L2 errors.

Description of Errors

The ultimate objective of Error Analysis theory is explanation of errors. Hence, this stage
is considered the most important for Error Analysis research. In order to reach to some effective
remedial measures, Sanal claims that the analyst should be aware of the mechanism that triggers
each type of error. Explaining the nature of errors is a fundamental issue in SLA. Ellis and
Barkhuizen declare that "explaining errors involves determining their sources in order to account
for why they were made". In Ellis's words explanation of errors "involves an attempt to establish
the processes responsible for L2 acquisition". On the other hand, Ellis explains the
psycholinguistic sources of the nature of L2 learners' errors by classifying them as errors of
performance and errors of competence.

FEEDBACK
During a course students’ performance is regularly assessed by grades on papers, quizzes,
and exams until they receive the final grade. This information does not always come in time for
the students to improve their learning while they are attending a course. That is why students
need to be given feedback during the course, as well.

CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK
Corrective Feedback refers to the information that learners receive from their teacher
about their performance, which will help them take self-corrective action and improve their
achievement. Learners receive feedback from several sources: themselves, the learning task,
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fellow students and the teacher. The purpose of giving feedback in the classroom is to improve
learner performance, it provides constructive advice, and guidance to learners in their effort to
raise their performance levels. Feedback is generally given for informational and/or motivational
purposes. Informational feedback corrects errors that the learner commits, but it should not be
demotivating. Feedback can also be used as a device to reinforce learning. Effective feedback
focuses on the learner’s performance and stresses both strengths and suggestions for
improvement.

Varieties of feedback

Harmer (1991) makes a distinction between two different kinds of feedback: content and
form feedback. Content feedback involves the assessment of how good the students’
performance was in the communicative activity, focusing on their ability to perform the task
rather than deal with the correctness of their language used in the activity. Form feedback deals
with the linguistic accuracy of the students’ performance. The teacher will record the errors the
students are making during the activity and will give a feedback on their successful achievement
as well as discuss their errors and mistakes.
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REFERENCES
bencze, J. s. (2006). Applied Linguistics 1. Bolcsesz konzorcium.

Ellis, R. (1989). The Study of second language acquistion. Blum ka kulka: Ablex
Publishing corporation .

Bitchener, J. (2008). Evidence in support of written corrective feedback. Journal of

Second Language Writing,

17, 102-118. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2007.11.004