Error analysis and its application to Chinese language teaching.

摘要

Error analysis is an analytical tool that is used to identify linguistic errors learners make. This tool has been used to significantly change the teaching and learning of second language by having learners react to new linguistic phenomena and by providing useful insights about second language acquisition process. However, the educators/teachers of Chinese language have yet to benefit on the findings of second language acquisition (SLA) research, because very few studies have been designed to specifically examine the process of acquiring Chinese in a classroom setting or address issues arising in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.; This study was designed to provide a descriptive typology of the linguistic, lexical and syntactic errors produced by native English speaking students in the first, second, third and beyond third years in Chinese instruction. Stage I of the study consisted of a pilot study involving 23 college-level students. Errors committed by each respondent were identified and categorized. Based upon those results, the study was evolved into Stage II with a total of 56 additional college level students involved. In both studies, a qualitative, descriptive and proficiency-based interview protocol developed by The American Council On The Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) was employed. A total of 506 errors were identified in the combined studies and were categorized into eight error types.; The significance of this study is that specific areas where learners have the most difficulty and what error types detract most from learners' ability to perform in Chinese effectively. The results of this study should be used to help teachers understand and correct learners' errors in a systematic fashion. Hopefully, this knowledge will aid Chinese language teachers to develop more effective teaching approaches for native English speaking learners of Chinese.