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Correcting Students' Errors: Theory and Practice

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 Current Educational Research
Current Educational Research 1:5 (2018)
Received: 11 May 2018; Accepted: 25 June 2018

Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice

Naimi AMARA
Department of English, Hassiba Benbouali University
Abstract:-Correcting students’ language errors has always received much importance because of its
significance for analyzing those errors and trying to provide students and teachers with adequate techniques
and strategies to avoid or at least minimize the number of those errors while practicing the foreign
languages. According to Corder (1967), correcting learners’ errors is substantial in three different ways:
First, they tell the teacher about the progress of the learner, and therefore what remains to be learnt. Second,
they supply evidence of how a language is acquired and what strategies the learner employs in learning a
language. Thirdly, they are indisputable to the learning process because making errors is regarded as a
device the learner uses in order to learn. The present paper aims at highlighting fundamental background
studies done in the field of Error Analysis. It also tries to help EFL teachers and educators to become
familiar with the most frequent errors committed by EFL learners and lead language practitioners to consider
some very important issues about understanding the significance of Error Correction in the process of
second language acquisition such as: how much correction should be made, at what phases the teacher
should correct the error and how the teacher can correct the learner without de-motivating him/her.
Key words: - contrastive analysis (CA), error analysis (EA), interlingual errors, intralingual errors.

Introduction:
Contrastive analysis (CA) and error analysis (EA)
Error correction is seen as a form of feedback given
have been regarded as the two main pillars in the
to learners on their language use. No teacher can
domain of second and foreign language learning.
deny the fact that correcting the errors made by
Generally, as Keshavarz (1999, p. 11) stated,
students when they speak or write is one of the most
"…there have been two major approaches to the
difficult tasks in language acquisition. Thus, every
study of learners' errors, namely Contrastive
language practitioner or teacher should consider
Analysis and Error Analysis." He further discussed
some the following issues about error correction:
that, "Error Analysis emerged on account of the
the difference between a mistake and an error, how
shortcomings of Contrastive Analysis which was
much correction should be made, at what phases the
the favored way of describing learners' language in
teacher should correct the error and how the teacher
the 1950s and 1960s" (p. 42). The process involved
can correct the learner without de-motivating
in CA is the comparison of learners' mother tongue
him/her. One crucial point in the field of Error
and the target language. Based on the similarities or
Correction is to know the nature of learning a
differences between two languages, predictions
foreign or second language, i.e, how do we learn a
were made on errors that learners would be likely or
second language? We have to investigate what
disposed to make as a result (Kim, 2001). Unlike
happens in the mind of human beings through
CA which tries to describe differences and
mental process to learn a language. In this respect,
similarities of L1 and L2, James (1998 cited in Kim,
two phenomena have been distinguished by the
2001) stated that, EA attempts to describe learners'
American linguist Krashen (1987) when he clearly
interlanguage (i.e. learners' version of the target
distinguished between: first language acquisition
language) independently and objectively. He
and second language learning. Different schools
believed that the most distinct feature of EA is that
appeared in linguistics and psycholinguistics whose
the mother tongue is not supposed to be mentioned
aim was to analyse learners’ errors and to decipher
their sources.Among those schools, we find the for comparison. The purpose of Error Analysis is, in
fact, to find " what the learner knows and does not
structural behaviouristic school and the
know" and to " ultimately enable the teacher to
transformational generative grammarians.
supply him not just with the information that his

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Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
hypothesis is wrong, but also, importantly, with the child has biological capacities which enable him/her
right sort of information or data for him to form a to acquire language. This was called by Noam
more adequate concept of a rule in the target Chomsky LAD. i.e. Language Acquisition Device.
language" (Carder, 1974, p. 170). The primary The latter is a predisposition of language acquisition
concern of this study is to explore the kinds of of the environment in which children are born
errors made by a group of Algerian EFL learners at (Arabic in an Arabic environment.English in an
university level in their written and oral English environment…etc). To sum up, infants are
expressions. More specifically, the study seeks to innately endowed with the ability to acquire a
answer the following question: What are the most natural language and all they need to set the process
common errors that Algerian students commit in of language acquisition going are natural language
their written and oral expressions? data. First language acquisition is easy and second
language learning is difficult.
Literature Review:
The Definition of Errors:
First Language Acquisition versus Second
Language Learning: Before the 1960’s, during the dominance of the
behaviouristic view upon language there existed a
Applied linguistics is the attempt to put the insights
dominated view of language to consider learners’
resulting from linguistic research to practical uses.
errors as something undesirable. Making errors was
These include first and second language teaching
seen as a sign of mislearning and regarded as
(Such as: lexicography, translation….etc). Our
undesirable to proper processes of language
focus of linguistic application is the field of
learning. According to the behaviouristic point of
language teaching which focuses in turn on the
view, the reason behind making errors lies in
learner and the language learning process. How is
inadequate teaching methods which if had been
this language which is the object of study of the
“perfect” they would never be committed. This way
linguist being learnt? We have to investigate what
of thinking was considered to be naive as there is
happens in the mind of human beings through
nothing to be called “perfect” methodology
mental processes to learn a language. In this respect,
especially with the appearance of the Universal
two phenomena have been distinguished Krashen
Grammar concept proposed by Chomsky in 1965.
(1987) when he talked about: first language
The latter claimed that each human being has an
acquisition and second language learning First
innate capacity that can guide him through a vast
language acquisition: The term acquisition is ued to
number of sentence generation possibilities. Since
reffer to subconscious learning which is not
then, a shift by language teachers towards the
influenced by explicit instruction about the L2
cognitive approach has started. Chomsky’s theory
system or about errors against the L2 rule system. It
contributes in raising researcher’s interests about
takes place in a natural environment. Language data
learners’ errors as a source of hypotheses formation.
is not arranged as in a language teaching situation.
The infant is exposed to an unlimited data. The The importance of errors in language learning was
child is acquiring many things at the same time. first advocated by Corder (1967). He proved that
Hence, first language acquisition is a mental strategies of L2 learners could be inferred through
psychological process which is natural, spontaneous the analysis of their errors and that could be helpful
and unconscious. for researchers of L2 learning process. Selinker
(1992) highlighted two fundamental contributions
Second language learning: The term learning on the
of Corder’s study in L2 learning. The first one is
other hand is a conscious process which results
that the learner’s errors are systematic and the
from an explicit instruction about errors against the
second is that they are not “negative” or
L2 rule system. A second language is learnt later on
“interfering” but a positive factor, indicative of
in life. The individual already functions with a
testing hypothesis.
language system. S/he already possesses a verbal
behaviour. Learning in this case is conscious. The There are a lot of definitions developed for the
data is arranged by syllabus designers. The learner concept of “error”. According to Lennon (cited in
is not exposed to unlimited data like the infant. It Brown, 2000), an error is “a linguistic form or
takes place under formal instruction. The learner is combination of forms which, in the same context
not necessarily young. and under the same context and under similar
conditions of production, would, in all likelihood,
In other words, for first language acquisition the

46 Current Educational Research 1:5 (2018), pg 45-57

Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
not be produced by the speakers’ native speaker E.g. I studied English for two year. (Instead of
counterparts.” Corder (1967), on the other hand, years)
differentiates between the mistake which is a c) Communication base:
performance error due to a random guess or slip and
the error that refers to idiosyncrasies in the E.g: Using “air ball” instead of balloon (coinage)
interlanguage of the learner manifesting the d) Induced errors: Due to the teacher’s
learner’s system of operation while learning. The presentation of the material: E.g: as if= like.
later can be seen as L2 a deviation from the adult’s The learner will wite the following sentence:
grammar of a native speaker which reflects the
interlanguage of the learner. E.g: She cries as if the baby cries instead of
writing: She cries like a baby.
Errors are systematic and may give valuable insight
into language acquisition because they are goofs in d) Analogial errors: (started, goed)
the learner’s underlying competence. When native E.g: He goed to school on foot.( Instead of saying
speakers make mistakes, they can identify and went)
correct them immediately because they have almost
full knowledge of the linguistic structure of their e) Ignorance of rule restrictions: the learner
mother tongue (Scovel 2001). Non-native speakers, applies rules to context where they are not
L2 learners not only make mistakes, they also applicable (e.g. He made me to go rest"
commit errors and as they have only an incomplete through extension of the pattern "He
knowledge of the target language, they are not asked/wanted me to go").
always able to correct the errors that they make. f) Incomplete application of rules: the learner
Thus the learners’ errors reflect a lack of underlying fails to use a fully developed structure (e.g.
competence in the language that they are learning. "You like to sing?" in place of "Do you like to
Types of Errors and Theirs Sources: sing?")

Errors are indispensible to the learning process but g) False hypothesis: the learners do not fully
why learners make errors and why they find it so understand a distinction in the target language
difficult to correct their errors. Researchers dealing (e.g. the use of "was" as a marker of past tense
with second language acquisition (Carder, 1974, in "One day I was travelled.").
Shovel, 2001) agree that one of the major causes of Error Analysis:
errors is language transfer. Yet, we can mention
Errors are seen as a systematic deviation made by
other related errors’ sources as follow:
learners who have not yet mastered the rules of L2.
1. Language transfer or interlingua interference. In A learner cannot self-correct his/her errors because
this type, errors are caused by mother tongue they are a reflective product of his/her current stage
interference. Eg1. I followed him yesterday slowly of L2 development. Whereas, mistakes are defined
in the street. (Arabic thinking: negative transfer as a random confirmation slip caused by tiredness,
from Arabic to English) E.g2: I received excitement or other sources, and the learner can
confidential information from the police. (Negative readily self-correct his/her mistakes. Error Analysis
transfer from French to English) is one of the most influential theories of second
5. Intralingua interference: this kind of errors occurs language acquisition. It is concerned with the
during the learning process of the second language analysis of the errors committed by L2 learners by
at a stage when the learners have not really acquired comparing the learners’ acquired norms with the
the knowledge. In addition, errors are also caused target language norms and explaining the identified
by the difficulty or the problem of language itself. errors. For Crystal (1999,
According to Richards (1971), intralingua errors are p. 108) Error Analysis in language teaching and
also subdivided to the following categories: learning is the study of the unacceptable forms
a) Over-generalization: produced by someone learning a language,
especially a foreign language. According to James
E.g: He can swim. Instead of saying: He can swim (1998), EA refers to “the study of linguistic
or He swims. ignorance, the investigation of what people do not
b) Simplification: (Redundancy/ reduction) know and how they attempt to cope with their
ignorance”.

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Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
Another definition of error analysis is given by namely, (1) incomplete acquisition of the target
Brown (2000). He defined error analysis as "the grammar, (2) exigencies of the learning/teaching
process to observe, analyze, and classify the situation, and (3) errors due to normal problems of
deviations of the rules of the second languages and language performance.
then to reveal the systems operated by learner". As
Committing errors is one of the most unavoidable
stated by AbiSamara (2003), Error Analysis can be things in the world. Students, in the process of
viewed as " a type of linguistic analysis that focuses learning language, profit from the errors that they
on errors committed by learners". Corder (1967) make by obtaining feedback to make new attempts
views errors as valuable information for three that successively approximate their desired
beneficiaries: for teachers, it clues them on the objectives.Vahdatinejad (2008) maintains that error
progress of the students; for researchers, it provides analyses can be used to determine what a learner
evidence as to how language is acquired or learned; still needs to be taught. It provides the necessary
for learners themselves, it gives them resources in information about what is lacking in the learner's
order to learn. competence. He also makes a distinction between
Brown (2000, p. 224) states that there are two main errors and lapses (simple mistakes). According to
sources of errors, namely, interlingual errors and him, lapses are produced even by native speakers,
intralingual errors. Interlingual (Interference) Errors and can be corrected by themselves. They call for
are those errors that are traceable to first language on the spot correction rather than remediation,
interference. These errors are attributable to which is needed for errors. Mitchell and Myles (as
negative interlingual transfer. The term cited in Keshavarz, 2003) claims that errors, if
"interlingua” was first introduced by Selinker studied, could reveal a developing system of the
(1972). He used this term to refer to the systematic student's L2 language and this system is dynamic
knowledge of an L2 which is independent of both and open to changes and resetting of parameters.
the learner's L1 and the target language (AbiSamra, In the past few years, there has been a large and
2003, p. 5). According to Kavaliauskiene (2009, p. growing amount of literature on error analysis. In a
4), transfer of errors may occur because the learners recent study conducted by Sarfraz (2011) to
lack the necessary information in the second examine the errors made by 50 undergraduate
language or the attentional capacity to activate the Pakistani students in written essays, he found that
appropriate second language routine.
the overwhelming majority of errors the students
Transfer is of two kinds: positive and negative. The made resulted from learners' interlanguage process
transfer may prove to be justified because the and some errors resulted from mother tongue
structure of the two languages is similar – this case interference. Darus and Subramaniam (2009), using
is called 'positive transfer' or 'facilitation', or it may Corder's (1967) model on error analysis, examined
prove unjustified because the structure of the two errors in a corpus of 72 essays written by 72 Malay
languages are different – that case is called students. They found that students' errors were of
'negative transfer' or 'interference' (Wilkins, 1972, six types, viz., in singular/plural form, verb tense,
p. 199). word choice, preposition, subject- verb agreement
and word order. In addition, Ridha (2012) examined
As far as the intralingual errors are concerned, they
English writing samples of 80 EFL college students
result from faulty or partial learning of the target
and then categorized the errors according to the
language rather than language transfer (Keshavarz,
following taxonomy: grammatical, lexical/
2003, p. 62). Richards (1972) cites four main types
semantic, mechanics, and word order types of
of intralingual errors, namely: (1)
errors. The results showed that most of the students'
overgeneralization, (2) ignorance of rule
errors can be due to L1 transfer. Furthermore, she
restrictions, (3) incomplete application of rules, and
found that most of the learners rely on their mother
(4) false concepts hypothesized. Later he identifies
tongue in expressing their ideas. She added that
six sources of errors: (1) interference, (2)
although the rating processes showed that the
overgeneralization, (3) performance errors, (4)
participants' essays included different types of
markers of transitional competence, (5) strategies of
communication and assimilation, and errors, the grammatical errors and the mechanical
errors were the most serious and frequent ones.
Teacher-induced errors:
As Shaffer (2008) mentioned, one of the questions
Stenson (1974) states three main reasons for errors,

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Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
facing every ESL/EFL teacher is how to correct oral some theoretical foundations and be aware of what
errors and how much to correct. Researcher they are doing in the classroom. Henrickson (1978)
opinions vary widely on this: from no correction to lists the "five fundamental questions" and reviews
extensive correction, from immediate to delayed the literature that addresses them:
correction, and from implicit to explicit correction.
1. Should errors be corrected?
Language learners also have their own opinions on
how and whether they wish to have their oral errors 2. If so, when should errors is corrected?
corrected by their teacher in the classroom setting. 3. Which learner errors should be corrected?
These opinions may be at odds with those of the
experts, leaving the classroom instructor with more 4. How should learner errors be corrected?
questions about error correction than answers. In his 5. Who should correct learner errors?
article, Moss (2000) supported this position and
claimed that, when deciding how to respond to Second language acquisition theory has "answers"
students' oral errors there are a number of questions to four of these questions, answers that are,
we need to ask ourselves. First of all, 'Should themselves hypotheses. Hendrickson (1978)
learners' errors be corrected?' In this regard, there predicts that if error correction is done according to
are wide differences of opinion, but perhaps one of the principles described below, it will be effective.
the most forceful reasons for carrying out correction 1. Should errors be corrected?
is that many learners expect their errors to be
According to the second language acquisition
corrected and can feel disappointed or resentful if
theory presented here, when error correction
they are ignored. The second reason is that, there is
"works", it does so by helping the learner change
the danger that by leaving errors untreated, the
his or her conscious mental representation of a rule.
defective language might serve as an input model
In other words, it affects learned competence by
and be acquired by other students in the class.
informing the learner that his or her current version
Thirdly, the provision of corrective feedback can
of a conscious rule is wrong. Thus, second language
speed up the process of language learning by
acquisition theory implies that when the goal is
providing information about rules and the limits of
learning, errors should indeed be corrected (but not
language use, which would otherwise take students
at all times; see below; and not all rules, even if the
a long time to deduce on their own.
goal is learning). The theory maintains however,
Teachers’ Attitude to Errors: that error correction is not of use for acquisition.
Teachers are often afraid of their students’ making Acquisition occurs, according to the input
errors. They feel that students might learn their hypothesis, when acquirers understand input for its
mistakes and so they must make sure that meaning, not when they produce output and focus
everything they say is correct. This attitude goes on form.
back to the earlier belief, influenced by the 2. When should errors be corrected?
behaviourist model of learning, which maintains
Concerning this problem, the most controversial
that the language can be learnt by repeating correct
issue is to treat them immediately or to delay. First,
forms until they become automatic, that is why
we are confronted with a dilemma—fluency versus
repeating incorrect forms is harmful. It is now
accuracy. For communicative purpose, delayed
widely agreed that language is not learnt this way: it
correction is usually
is a system of rules that the learner has to acquire,
that trying out language and making errors are Preferred. Some advanced students believe that
natural and unavoidable parts of this process. Doff when to correct errors is determined by the type of
(1993) explains that learners are applying rules errors committed. For instance, if they are
from their own first languages and they are applying pronunciation or grammatical errors, immediate
rules which they have internalised but they are in correction is preferable, for post-correction cannot
some way intermediate between their native make learners remember anything. Furthermore, the
languages (L1) and the target language (L2). overall situation in the classroom is also important.
When the whole class is familiar with a word, but
Error treatment:
only one of them is singled out for being corrected,
Error treatment is a very complicated and weighty he or she would feel awkward. So, we can see that
problem. Language teachers need to be armed with when to correct is very complicated. Both the

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Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
teachers’ intuition and the feedback from the Up till now, both the theory and the application
students are equally important. have been illustrated, in the next section we are
going to deal with both the significance and
3. Which errors should be corrected?
limitations of error analysis in language teaching
Learners’ errors are usually classified in different and learning.
categories. Burt (1975) made a distinction between
“global” and “local” errors. Global errors hinder Ways of Correction:
communication and they prevent the learner from There are several ways of correction that can be
comprehending some aspects of the message. Local employed in the classroom.
errors only affect a single element of a sentence, but
Self-correction:
do not prevent a message from being heard.
According to Hendrickson (1980), global errors After the student recognizes what is incorrect in
need not be corrected and they are generally held his/her response, s/he should be able to correct
true. But the expressions such as “a news”, or “an him/herself. Self- correction is the best technique,
advice” are systematic errors, and they need to be because the student will remember it better.
corrected. As for pre- systematic errors, teachers Peer correction:
can simply provide the correct one. For systematic
errors, since learners have already had the linguistic If the student cannot correct him/herself the teacher
competence, they can explain this kind of errors and can encourage other students to supply correction.
correct them themselves. So teachers just remind This technique is to be applied tactfully, so that the
them when they commit such errors. As to what student who originally made the mistake will not
kind of errors should be corrected, it needs teachers’ feel humiliated. In the case of errors, it is useful if
intuition and understanding of errors. At the same after peer correction the teacher goes back to the
time, the teacher should consider the purpose of the student who made the error and gets him/her to say
analysis and analyze them in a systematic way. it correctly. Edge (1990) mentions the following
advantages of peer correction:
4. How should errors be corrected?
-It encourages cooperation, students get used to the
According to James (1998), it is sensible to follow idea that they can learn from each other
the three principles in error correction. Firstly, the
techniques involved in error correction would be -Both learners (who made the error and who
able to enhance the students’ accuracy in correct) are involved in listening to and thinking
expression. Secondly, the students’ affective factors about the language
should be taken into consideration and the -The teacher gets a lot of important information
correction should not be face-threatening to the about the learners’ ability - if students learn to
students. practice peer correction without hurting each other’s
Some scholars believed that teachers’ indirect feelings, they will do the same in pair-work
correction is highly appreciated. They either activities. However, it may happen that whenever
encourage students to do self-correction in heuristic the teacher asks for peer correction from the whole
method or present the correct form, so students class, it is always the same students who answer. In
couldn’t feel embarrassed. Compare the two this case the teacher has to make sure that other
situations: students are involved as well.
Teacher: “No, listen, what does this word Teacher correction:
mean?” If no one can correct, the teacher must realise that
(1) Student: “What means this word?” the point has not yet been learnt properly. In that
case the teacher can re-explain the problematic item
(2)Student: “What means this word?” of language, especially if the teacher sees that the
Teacher: “What does it mean? Well, it is difficult to majority of the class has the same problem. There
explain, but it means… might be more repetition and practice necessary.
We must not forget that the main aim of correction
It is obvious that teacher’s remodeling in (2) is is to facilitate the students to learn the new language
more natural and sensible than the direct item correctly. That is why it is important that after
interruption in (1). correction the teacher has to ask the student who

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Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
originally made the error or mistake to give the 1. First research tool: The written essays of 35
correct response. participants of the chosen university. The topics
given in the essays were general but argumentative
3.Methodology
in nature.
Introduction:
2. Second research tool: The short talk of one
This section presents the research methodology student among the 35 students who participated in
used in this study and gives information about the the written test.
population and the sample. It also describes the data
collection instruments and procedures. It finally Data Collection Procedure:
describes the validity and reliability of the The first research instrument: All the 35 participants
instruments and gives information about the data were required to write on one of the five following
analysis. different topics: politics, university life, sports, my
favourite job or family problems. They were asked
The Study Population and Sample:
to write approximately 150 to 300 words within a
Burns and Grove (1993, p, 779) states that a period of one hour. The participants were informed
population is defined as all elements (individuals, that they had to start with an outline, then a first
objects and events) that meet the sample criteria for draft and a final draft. The students did not know
inclusion in a study. The study population consisted that their writings are going to be under
of 36 first year LMD students studying English as a investigation. The second research experiment: One
Foreign language in Hassiba Ben-Bouali University. student was randomly chosen from the entire
Mouton (1996, p. 132) defines a sample as elements population to produce a short talk. Its purpose was
selected with the intention of finding out something to obtain oral data. The subject was asked to talk for
about the total population from which they are five minutes about himself, his daily routine and
taken. The sample included in this study consists of about life in Algeria or in the local area where he
35 undergraduate students during the first semester lived. Ten minutes before the talk he was given
of the academic year 2013/2014. To select the some guidelines to help him organize his oral
participants of the present study, a simple random presentation and to avoid silent periods.
sampling method was used in both experiments
because it is regarded as one of the most reliable It consisted of the following points:
methods to obtain a representative sample. The a) Place where he lived.
participants, selected for the purpose of this study, b) Knowledge of languages.
are between 18 and 20 years of age. All of them
were native speakers of Arabic, who also had a c) Things he liked.
working knowledge of modern standard Arabic. d) Habits he had.
They live in an exclusively Arabic-speaking
community. Like most Algerian students, the ones e) What Algerian people do on holidays.
who participated in this study had experienced f) What Algerian people like.
approximately the same number of 7 years of
education through the middle and the secondary For the data analysis, the talk was divided into
education system. All the participants are examples which in most cases correspond to the
homogeneous in terms of their linguistic, different sentences he produced.
educational, and socioeconomic background. They Reliability and Validity:
speak Arabic dialect at home. All the participants
Reliability:
did not receive any English language instruction in
English speaking countries nor they had been to any Polit and Hungler (1993, p. 445) refer to reliability
English speaking countries to have any kind of as the degree of consistency with which an
English exposure. instrument measures the attribute it is designed to
evaluate. The researcher used a test-retest device to
Data Collection:
measure the reliability of the instrument. A pilot
Data Collection Instruments: study was conducted through selecting 30 students
Two major sources of data were used to find from the target population randomly. These students
answers to the research questions: did not take part in the actual study. The students
were asked to write on one of the essays.

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Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
Accordingly, the students' results showed First experiment result:
consistency in the answers. In the second experiment the subject produced the
Validity: following talk:
The validity of an instrument is the degree to which Well I live in Chlef. . Chlef is in the centre of my
an instrument measures what it is intended to country, Algeria. I speak a... two languages very
measure (Polit & Hungler 1993, p. 448). To ensure well and also I speak a little French. And I like very
the face and content of the study instrument, the much the football and also other sports. And often
method of trustee’s validity was employed. A panel go to the stadium because I like very much the
of judges consisting of two academic college sports’ world and also the internet very much.
instructors were asked to evaluate the given topics ( Everday when I have breakfast I... drink milk with
for writing and speaking). They approved that cofee and some bread or cakes .And the Algereians,
topics were taken from materials appropriate to the people of Algerians go on holiday normally to
students’ standard and suit their ages, and that the the beach in summeror and also to the countryside...
rubric set was very clear. Also the people Algerian, especially old people, go
in winter to natural baths like; Bouhnifia,
Data Analysis:
Chiger….etc . At the Feasts where the people are in
The analysis of written essays will be derived from their homes with their family they enjoy eating
Corder's (1967) method on error analysis. This delicious and traditional meals such as: coscous,
method has three steps: (1) collection of sample mesfouf…..etc. Algerians like to visit each other in
errors, (2) identification of errors and (3) feasts and exchange some food and cakes, they help
description of errors. poor people with clothes, money and food like meat
For the short talk, the type of data analysis applied in Aid El-Adha. Most Algerians on weekends prefer
was interlanguage analysis because for the purpose to stay at home with family because they don’t have
of the study, his IL had to be analysed not only as nice public places or gardans to go. And finally I
an independent system but also related to his native like very much the sport, and I like the Internet
language and the target language the learner was especially the facebook because I can chat with
aiming at; this way, in the examples produced four people from other foreign countries.
aspects were considered: the IL form, the literal It can be noticed that the subject tends to follow the
translation of the IL form, the hypothesized target native-like placement relying on his own perception
language form and the hypothesized native of similarity between both languages, resorting to
language form. The language topic selected to the process and applying the strategy of similarity to
analyse the nature of transfer was adverbial the Ll, such as:
placement since it has been a long debated issue in
1. And also I speak little French.
English, whereas few studies deal with Spanish-
English interlanguage word order in this issue. The same applies to the following example where
the occurrence of an intensifier adjunct between the
Conclusion:
verb and the object shows that the learner perceives
The researcher used a simple random sampling that the Mother Tangue choice between Subject-
method to select the participants of the present Object-Adjunct (SOA) and Subject-Adjunct-Object
study which consist of 36 male and female (SOA) is the same as the Target Language one,
undergraduates at Chlef University. In the first creating an interlingual identification which leads
experiment, 35participants were asked to write a him to apply the process of transfer:
well-developed essay from 150 to 200 words within
2. I like very much the football and also other
one hour during one of their English classes. In the
sports.
second experiment, one student was asked to talk
for 5 minutes about a given topic. This section The use of interlingual identifications can also be
described the research methodology used in this observed in this example:
study, including the population, sample, data 3. And often go to the stadium
collection instruments as well as strategies used to
ensure the reliability and validity of the study. In this example the subject also produces an empty
category, omiting the subject which seems to be
4. Results and discussion: performance- related because in the rest of the

52 Current Educational Research 1:5 (2018), pg 45-57

Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
sentences he does not produce this empty category; by the leaners are corrected by examples. Table 1
moreover, the subject's perception of the similarity shows the types, numbers and percentages of errors
between both languages, ie., his psychotypology committed by the participants in their written work.
leads him to the production of parallel structures in
Type of error Frequency of errors Perecentages
both languages. The common reference he uses is
(%)
also present in:
1. Verb tense 83 11.6%
4. The people of Algerians go on holiday normally
to the beach in summer… 2. Word order 57 8%
This structure is the result of applying the abstract 3. Subject/verb agreement 78 10.9%
organizing principle that adverbials can take the 4. Pronoun 52 7.3%
same position as in the Mother Tangue;
furthermore, the overuse of the adjective in a 5. Spelling 88 12.3%
context where it does not apply also shows that he is 6. Capitalization 44 6.1%
following the IL principles.
7. Preposition 60 8.4%
5. Most Algerians on weekends prefer to stay at
home… 8. Article 83 11.6%

Another example of a wrong placement of time- 9. Double negative 49 6.8%

adjunct shows that the learner recognises that the 10. Sentence fragment 117 16.4%
MT choice between SOA and SAO is the same as
Total 711 100%
the TL one, creating an interlingual identification
which leads him to apply the process of transfer. Table1: analysis of errors produced by Algerian
EFL learners. Now the researcher will present the
6. And I like very much the football.
ten types of errors the students made in their essays.
The use of “the” with most words is another
1. Verb tense:
evidence of the language transfer from Arabic (MT)
to English (TL). Errors of wrong tense or wrong verb occur when a
learner uses the wrong verb tense in a certain
7. And finally I like very much the sport, and I like
sentence. The results of this study reveal that the
the Internet.
participants were not aware of applying the correct
The overuse of “and” in the whole passage or the tense to the verb in the sentences.
short talk is clear due to the language transfer. Most
Error identification:
Arab speakers frequently use “and” in their speech
in initial and mid-positions. 1. People don’t likes politicians.
The similarity the learner establishes between both 2. a lot of families has problems. Error correction
languages is clearly noticed if we observe the talk 1. People don’t like politicians.
he produced .As can be seen, the combination SAO
and SOA is used in the MT as it is in the IL. More 2. A lot of families have problems
time adjuncts are produced in initial placement, the 2. Double negative:
same tendency that can be observed in the IL; as for
place adjuncts they tend to occur in final position. It A double negative occurs when two forms of
is quite obvious that the subject creates interlingual negation are used in the same sentence. Error
identifications which enable him to apply the identification:
process of transfer resorting to the strategy of 1. Most students don’t have no idea about the
creating parallel structures. LMD system .
Second experiment result: 2. Students don’t have nothing to practice in the
In this section, the researcher presents and discusses campus. Error correction:
the findings of the study in light of its objectives. 1. Most students have no any idea about the
First, the errors made by the students are classified; LMD system.
second, the common errors are identified with
2. Students don’t have anything to practice in the
illustrative examples; and finally, these errors made

53 Current Educational Research 1:5 (2018), pg 45-57

Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
campus. 6. Word order:
3. Sentence fragment: Word order is the syntactic arrangement of words in
a sentence, clause, or phrase. Error identification:
A sentence fragment is a group of words that is only
part of a sentence and does not express a complete 1. I like also to go to the internet.
thought. Usually sentence fragments are pieces of 2. What they are doing for young people? Error
sentences that have become disconnected from the correction:
main clauses. Some fragments are incomplete
because they lack either a subject or a verb. 1. I also like to go to the internet.
Error identification: 2. What are they doing for young people?
1. Teachers who teach us very qualified. 7. Spelling:
2. Sometimes practise football or handball on Spelling means the act or process of writing words
weekends.. Error correction: by using the letters conventionally accepted for
their formation. Error identification:
1. Teachers who teach us are very qualified.
1. My favourite hoby is reading history books
2. Sometimes I practise football or handball on
weekends. 2. Gramar is one of the difficult modules we
study. Error correction:
4. Subject /verb agreement:
1. My favourite hobby is reading history book
Subjects and verbs must agree with one another in
number (singular or plural). Thus, if a subject (the 2. Grammar is one of the difficult modules we
person or thing doing the action) is singular, its verb study.
(the word representing the action) must also be 8. Prepositions:
singular; if a subject is plural, its verb must also be
plural. A preposition is a word that shows the relationship
between a noun or pronoun and other words in a
Error identification: sentence. It links nouns, pronouns and phrases to
1. a lot of people in Algeria is not happy about the other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that
services. the preposition introduces is called the object of the
preposition. A preposition usually indicates the
2. Each of the groups has 32 students. Error temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object
correction: to the rest of the sentence. The great majority of the
1. a lot of people in Algeria are not happy about participants in this study demonstrated confusion
the services. for the right usage of prepositions as shown in the
examples below.
2. Each of the groups has 30 students.
Error identification:
1. I am interested on educating myself.
5. Capitalisation:
2. Authorities must take care about jobless
Capitalization means writing a word with its first
people. Error correction:
letter as a capital letter (upper-case letter) and the
remaining letters in small letters (lower-case 1. I am interested in educating myself.
letters). 2. Authorities must take care for jobless
Error identification: people.
1. Algerians like football so much. 9. Articles:
2. My friend ahmed and i practise sport in our An article is a word that is used with a noun to
free time. Error correction: indicate the type of reference being made by the
noun. English has two articles: “the” and “a/an”.
1. Algerians like football so much.
“The” is used to refer to specific or particular
2. My friend Ahmed and I practise spoet in our nouns; a/an is used to modify non- specific or non-
free time. particular nouns. We call “the” the definite article

54 Current Educational Research 1:5 (2018), pg 45-57

Naimi AMARA et al. / Correcting Students’ Errors: Theory and Practice
and “a/an” the indefinite articles. theories. In addition, while placing an emphasis on
error correction in the classroom, as language
Error identification:
teachers, we should take the teaching objectives,
1. Algeria is very rich country. students’ linguistic competence, their affective
2. Normally we are richest people in the region. factors and the effectiveness of the error correction
Error correction: into consideration. Consequently, we can employ
more flexible strategies in error correction and
1. Algeria is a very rich country. make more contributions to the EFL classroom
2. Normally we are the richest people in the teaching and learning
region. Error analysis is significant, but it also has its
10. Pronouns: limitations. First, there is a danger in too much
attention to learners’ errors and in the classroom
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. teacher tends to become so preoccupied with
We use pronouns to make sentences less weighty noticing errors that the correct utterance in the
and less repetitive. They are classified into several second language will go unnoticed. While the
types, i.e., the personal pronoun, the demonstrative diminishing of errors is an important criterion for
pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the indefinite increasing language proficiency, the ultimate goal
pronoun, the relative pronoun, the reflexive of second language learning is the attainment of
pronoun, and the intensive pronoun. communicative fluency in a language. Another
Error identification: shortcoming in error analysis is the overstressing of
production data. Factually language comprehension
1. The subjects who I study at university are very
is as important as production. It also happens that
difficult.
production lends itself to analysis and thus becomes
the prey of researchers, but comprehension data is
2. My Friends and myself practise a lot of sports. equally important in developing an understanding of
Error correction: the process of language acquisition. Thirdly, it fails
to account for the strategy of avoidance. A learner
1. The subjects which/that I study at university who for one reason or another avoids a particular
are evry difficult. sound, word, structure or discourse category may be
2. My friends and I practise a lot of sports. assumed incorrectly to have no difficulty therewith.
The absence of error therefore does not necessarily
5. Conclusion: reflect native like competence since learners may be
This study has given an account of the main errors avoiding the very structure that poses difficulty for
made by a group of Algerian EFL learners at them. Finally, error analysis can keep us too closely
university level in their written and spoken work. focused on specific languages rather than viewing
Based on the discussion of the findings and the universal aspects of language.
examples given, it could be concluded that the 7. Bibliography:
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