探析外语学习中语言错误出现的原因

舒正

【摘 要】外语学习中必然会伴随语言错误的出现，是什么原因导致这些语言错误的出现呢？本文试图探讨导致这些语言错误出现的背后因素。

【关键词】外语学习 语言错误 原因

Abstract： Foreign language learning necessarily involves errors and why these errors occur is a question for many language learners and instructors to wonder. This paper is to explore the reasons for such errors in foreign language learning.

Key words： foreign language learnin errors in language learning reasons

In learning a foreign language， students and teachers are usually aware of the errors in language acquisition， and they are frustrated by the constant repetition of such errors. It is of importance to shed light to the roots of those errors in order that instructors and their students can understand them and figure out ways to avoid them or at least repeat such errors less. There are three factors that can be accounted for the errors in the foreign language learning， that is negative transference， context of learning and communication strategies.

I.Negative Transference

It is commonly thought that language transfer refers to speakers or writers applying knowledge from their native language to a second language learning and using. There are interlingual transfer and intralingual transfer， that is to say， language transfer does not only occurs between native language and the target language but also within the target language itself， and that transfer can be either positive or negative.

When the relevant unit or structure of both languages is the same， linguistic interference can result in correct language production called positive transfer. Generally speaking， the more similar the two languages are， the more the learner is aware of the relation between them， the more positive transfer will occur.

Negative transfer occurs when the previous language knowledge interfere with the foreign language learning. If the previous language knowledge comes from the native language， then we call this transference interlingual transfer， and if it is from the already learned foreign language knowledge， we call it intralingual transfer. For example， in Chinese， “墙上有一幅画” is usually translated to be“ The wall has a map” and the translation exactly corresponds to the Chinese version. However， the correct English counterpart of “墙上有一幅画” is “ There is a map on the wall.” Another example is， when students learned the past-tense rules in English， they usually will say or write such sentences “She goed to the theater yesterday.” or “She can does the work alone.”

II.Context of Learning

The second major cause of errors in language learning is the situation or context of learning. English， as a foreign language is partly learned by native students from teachers in classroom， so the way a foreign language is presented or explained will largely influence the learning of the foreign language. For example， the students can be misled by the teachers or textbooks incorrect explanation or faulty presentation of a structure or grammar point， or even by a pattern which was rotely memorized in a drill exercise but not appropriately contextualized. In China， English is widely acquired， but it is still the foreign language， that is to say， there are not abundant chances for Chinese students to use English. English is mostly learned from teachers and books and used in classrooms； this kind of “unnatural” input of language will inevitably give rise to errors when the learned language is used.

III.Communication Strategies

Communication strategies are often used by the language learners to put across their meaning， but if not properly handled， these strategies can be the causes of errors. There are several forms of strategies that can often lead to errors， such as word coinage， circumlocution， false cognates， and prefabricated patterns. Lets take prefabricated patterns for example. Prefabricated patterns are simply memorized whole utterances or phrases， such as “How are you？” or “Where is the toilet？” A performer may use these without any knowledge at all of their internal structure. Whats more， errors can occur more when the prefabricated patterns are connected with other structures， such as “I dont know where do you come form.”

IV.Conclusion

From what has been discussed above， it can be reasonably concluded that errors which foreign language learners make are not only due to the interference from their first language， but also result from the overgeneralization of the target language， the way language is presented in the context learning and the use of communication strategies by learners in their trying to put across their meaning in real communication situation.

Bibiliography

[1]Diane Larsen-Freeman& Michael H. Long. An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2000.

[2]H.D.Brown. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching （third edition） [M].Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2002.

[3]Krashen， S. Principles and Practice of Second Language Acquisition. 1982， Pregamon.