(1463)LEARNING FROM NATIVES’ ERRORS: AN ANALYSIS OFSTUDENTS’ ERRORS IN WRITTEN LANGUAGE

摘要

There is a growing concern in Flanders about the deterioration of native (written) language proficiencyamongst youngsters. In this paper, we will outline a study of the errors in texts written in Dutch bybachelor students. We will pin-point the most acute and most frequent errors in order to developadapted language material to bridge the gap between the actual and the desired level of proficiency.An error coding scheme was designed that, in line with learner corpus research, combines linguisticinformation (spelling;;lexicon;;syntax;;textual structure) and error information (erroneous use;omission;;redundancy). The most widespread and recurrent errors belong to the categories textualgrammar (especially referential coherence), syntax, punctuation and lexical use. Those errors typicallycause interpretative problems which interrupt the reading process. The results are the starting point ofa usage-based remediation process of the students’ written language proficiency by creating agrowing awareness of correct formal language use.