Causes of Errors TEFL

1.      Popular Ideas

·         Carelessness:   not always the student’s fault (sometimes it is the material of the manner of presentation. To minimize errors, peer checking should be encouraged

·         1^st Lang interference:  language is not habit formation, but a process of hypothesis in which the learner modifies the rules as he learns more about the language. Learners might make continuous errors if they are not taught the correct rules (only imitation doesn’t work). Old habits should be drilled out and new ones must be learnt (not just imitated). The difference between a child learning his mother-tongue and a language learner is that the learner is being prepared for exams. Therefore, teachers should teach an item in as many ways as possible (since students have different learning ways of learning).

·         Translation:     translation from one Lang to another is difficult where there are no parallels (same concepts). Interference means an unconscious role of the 1^st Lang in the learning of the 2^nd, while translation is a conscious one. Translation becomes difficult when student has to express an idea but doesn’t have the vocab to do or when the focus is more on the message than the code.

2.      Other current theories of the causes of Errors:

·         Contrastive Analysis:   comparison of structures of two languages to point out their similarities/differences in order to minimize errors. It was believed that those elements that are similar to the learner’s mother tongue would be easier, while those that are different would be difficult. However, this theory failed to predict all learning difficulties because learners from different linguistic backgrounds tend to make similar errors+ it takes a lot of effort to study structures of two Langs. 

·         Overgeneralization:  faulty inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence.

3.      Foreign and Second language errors:

·         Foreign Lang:   students’ knowledge and use of Lang is restricted to classroom. Error is a result of faulty pronunciation/grammatical mistake of a word by the teacher or faulty teaching methodology

·         Second Lang:  learner of a Lang finds it in regular use outside the classroom. The clash between the English used inside the classroom and outside the classroom is what creates confusion and errors. However, teachers should be lenient to overlook some of the “locally preferred” terms of this variety and let the learner use it in different situations, but not in exams or written works.