This presentation highlights one of the major theories and hypotheses that dealt with error study. The aim of this presentation is to gain an general understanding or error analysis, its scope, process and significance.

1. ERROR ANALYSIS: AN OVERVIEW
PRESENTED BY: MS. BOCHRA BENAICHA SUPERVISED BY: DR. BOUALEM
BENGHALEM

2. OUTLINE
• Introduction
• The Scope of Error Analysis
• Error Vs Mistake
• Sources of Errors
• Process of Error Analysis
• The Significance of Error
Analysis
• Limitations of Error Analysis
• Conclusion

3. OBJECTIVES
• To gain general understanding of error
analysis
• To distinguish between error and mistake
• To understand the process of error analysis

4. EMERGENCE OF ERROR ANALYSIS
• Systematic comparison of L1 and L2
• Predicts errors
• Errors are the result of L1 interreference
• CA failed to predict all errors
• L1 interference is not the only source of
errors .
• Errors indicate failure
Contrastive Analysis
• Reaction to CA
• Focuses on language produced by learners.
• Examines actual errors produced by learners.
• Errors are inevitable part of learning.
Error Analysis

5. THE SCOPE OF ERROR ANALYSIS
• Branch of Applied Linguistics
• Approach of error analysis in SLA
• Established by Pit Corder.
• “Errors present learners’ language system”
(Corder, 1967)

6. THE SCOPE OF ERROR ANALYSIS
• “Technique for identifying, classifying and systematically interpreting the
unacceptable forms produced by someone learning a foreign language, using any
of the principals or the procedures provided by linguistics.” (Crystal, 2003:165)
• “A procedure used by both researchers and teachers which involves collecting
samples of learner language, identifying errors, classifying them according to their
nature and causes, and evaluating their seriousness”. (Keshavarz, 2012: 168)
• “The process of determining the error, its nature, causes and consequences”.
(James, 2015:2)

7. ASSUMPTIONS OF ERROR ANALYSIS
Error analysis is built upon three main assumptions:
a) Errors are inevitable part of language learning.
b) Errors are significant in different ways.
c) L1 interreference is not the only cause for learners’ errors.
(Keshvarz, 2012: 59)

8. ERROR VS MISTAKE
Error
Systematic deviation
Result of failure in
competence
High frequency
Learner is not aware
Cannot be self-corrected
Mistake
Random deviation
Result of failure in
performance
Low frequency
Learner is aware
Can be self-corrected
“An error is a result of a learner’s lack of competence; a mistake
however, occurs when this learner fails to perform their
competence.” (Corder,1967: 9).
Error Mistake

9. SOURCES OF ERRORS
Psycholinguistic sources: associated with the L2 knowledge system and
learner’s difficulties in L2 production.
Sociolinguistic sources: associated with learner’s ability to adjust his/her
language in a social context.
Epistemic sources: associated with leaner’s lack of world knowledge.
Discourse sources: associated with learner’s issues of information
organization and coherence.
Tylor
(1986)

10. SOURCES OF ERRORS
• Occur due to the negative transfer
• Result of L1 interference
• Can be orthographic, phonological, morpho-syntactic, lexico-semantic levels.
• Transfer/ interference errors
Interlingual
• Exclusive to L2,
• Result of learning context, communication strategies
• Include overgenralization, ignorance of rule restrictions, incomplete application of rules, false
conception hypothesized
• Developmental errors
Intralingual

11. PROCESS OF ERROR ANALYSIS
Collection of Sample of Learner’s Language
Error Identification
Error Description
Error Explanation
Error Evaluation

12. COLLECTION OF SAMPLE OF LEARNER’S LANGUAGE
• The massive sample: colleting several sample of language use from a large
number of learners.
• The specific sample consists of one sample of language use from a limited
number of learners.
• The incidental sample involves only one of language use produced by a single
learner.
• Data collection procedures:
The spontaneous or unplanned data
Elicited data.

13. ERROR IDENTIFICATION
a) What target language will be used as the point of evaluation for the
study?
b) Is the deviation related to failure in competence or failure in
performance?
c) Is it an overt error or covert error?
d) Is this deviation related to correctness or appropriateness?

14. ERROR DESCRIPTION
• Categorization and classification of
errors
Linguistic-based Taxonomy
Orthographic: occur when sound and letter
written differ. Eg: homophones and
homographs.
Phonological: transfer of elements from
L1 to L2. E.g: sank you
Lexico-semantic: associated with semantic
properties of lexical items.E.g: English is alive
language
Morphological-syntactic: wrong use of tenses,
plural phoneme, prepositions, articles…E.g:
Many book/ one trousers
Process-based Taxonomy
Omission: delete of linguistic items
E,g: She will go England
Addition: redundant use of unnecessary
linguistic items. E.g: Send to me the work
Substitution: replacing correct elements with
incorrect elements. E.g: Her biggest sister
Permutation: mis-ordering of words
E.g: We last year went to New York

15. ERROR EXPLANATION
Traces the source of the error:
L1 linguistic interreference,
Overgeneralization,
Hypercorrection,
Ignorance of rule restriction
 Faulty teaching techniques.

16. ERROR EVALUATION
Determines global and local errors
 Global errors: violate the overall structure of sentence.
 Local errors affect only a single constituent in a sentence.
(Vaquez &Alberto, 2008: 140).

17. SIGNIFICANCE OF ERROR ANALYSIS
• EA is significant for two main reasons: its relevance to language teaching and its
contribution to the study of SLA. (Corder,1981:181)
• EA serves as pedagogical tool for SLA and Language Teaching
• EA enables teachers get information about learners’ competence identify and
correct errors.
• EA Provides learners with valuable feedback.

18. LIMITATIONS OF ERROR ANALYSIS
• Weaknesses of methodological procedures and scope
limitations,
• Errors maybe mis-classified,
• Error analysis makes no account to avoidance strategy,
• EA focuses only on productive errors; it ignores receptive errors,
• EA fails to provide further insights about the process of SLA.

19. REFERENCES
Corder, S. P. (1967). The significance of learner’s errors. International Review of Applied
Linguistics.5(4),161- 170.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Corder, S. P. (1981). Error analysis and interlanguage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Crystal, D. (2003). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, (5th ed.). London: Blackwell.
James, C. (2015). Error in language learning and use: Exploring error analysis. New York:
Routledge.
Keshavarz, M. H. (2012). Contrastive Analysis & Error Analysis, (2nd ed). Iran: Rahnama Press.
Keshavarz, M. H. (2015). Contrastive Analysis & Error Analysis, (3nd ed). Iran: Rahnama Press.
Vásquez, L. & Alberto, D. (2008). Error Analysis in a Written Composition. Profile
Issues in Teachers` Professional Development, (10), 135-146.

20. THANK YOU