Errors in Learning : Causes ,Types ,Sources and Theories

                                                                             

Attitudes and Principles

Generally there are two different approaches to errors:

1.  It is consider as sign of failure on student or teacher’s part

2.  It is considered as essential part of learning

We already have discussed Mistakes And Correction in detail .

In countries where English is taught as second language, students fear to make mistakes and being laughed at.  Defensive learning Learner relegates actual message and focuses on the correct form of his utterance.

Errors because of faulty Language Teaching Methodology:

           

If second  language  learning is similar to first language learning, then why is it much more difficult? May be because of the teaching methodologies which are generally used in educational institutions

What should be the aim of the teachers regarding errors:

  Most teachers aim at perfection, but language is not a set of facts that can be perfectly learnt without making mistakes unlike geography, physics, etc.

Fluency is as important as knowing the correct forms and teachers should help students get fluent in whatever limited amount of knowledge they have instead of imposing burden of new words overnight

Correcting Errors:   

Correcting mistakes later and not interrupting the flow of an activity is recommended in language teaching so that the students don’t become over-aware of their mistakes

What Language to teach:    

Teachers desire to teach the best Lang (e.g. telling students not to use contraction—cant, won’t, etc). This shouldn’t be done because native speakers do use them and the student will get confused. Instead, teacher’s aim should be to teach the words and their different uses in different contexts. Inappropriate forms are as wrong as unacceptable ones (no one variety of Language is best—it is wrong to teach that formal Language is the best since “good morning” and “hi” cannot normally be substituted for each other in their respective contexts)

Types of Errors:

SLIP: Carelessness in fluency

Error (systematic deviation);

Mistake (inconsistent deviation);

Lapse (“cheiving to astrive” instead of “striving to achieve

Second language learners Vs Native language speakers

Secondly, learners make more mistakes because of their native language interfering with the target language. While learning a new language, children make guesses. Similarly, students of a language make “informed guesses,” so these guesses should be appreciated  for the development of their language skills

Sources of Errors:

1.        Redundant Error:  

These kinds of errors occur due to  personal reasons (worrying about personal problems, fatigue, etc)

2.       Inherent Errors: 

 Inherent errors are those that are made due to faulty material e.g. wrong examples or teaching methodology.

3.      Individualisation:

 Each student has a different approach towards both learning and correcting errors (some do it item by item while others do it faster).  

                           

Lexical Error:

                                                               

            Teachers should introduce the right vocabulary on the right time and should avoid lexical errors.

Accent:

  Teachers should teach students the correct pronunciation

What are the causes of Errors

   

 Carelessness:

 Carelessness is one of the major cause of errors . It is not always the student’s fault .Peer checking should be encouraged in order to minimise carelessness. You can see what is peer checking in my previous post Mistakes and Correction.

1^st Lang interference: 

The basic problem for a second language learner is first language interference. Language is not habit formation as we already discuss in Second Language Acquisition Theories but  it is in modification of the rules as the student 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 . The difference between a child learning his mother-tongue and a language learner is that the learner is being prepared for exams and the learner set certain barriers to language acquisition. Teachers should teach an item in as many ways as possible