Error Analysis: Review And Application

Based on the cognitive theory of Chomsky's universal grammar, error analysis (EA) explores the errors made by learners of a second language or foreign language. EA holds that learners of a foreign language, like children acquiring their mother tongue, make hypothesis of what they are exposed to, then test these hypothesis against the target language, and finally move closer and closer to the correct output of the target language. Therefore, unlike contrastive analysis, EA emphasizes the importance of learners' errors in the process of language learning. Although learners make errors in every stage of their learning and these errors appear to be disorderly, EA finds the systematic features of these errors, which can help teachers and researchers sum up the regularities of errors and contribute a great deal to improving teaching. The present paper attempts to apply the theory of EA to English teaching by pointing out that teachers should not attribute students'errors to their failure but should instead hold correct attitudes towards their errors and keep them interested in language learning. The present paper employs the methods of EA to classify Chinese students' common errors, explain the causes of these errors, find out the laws of language learning, adjust teaching strategies and improve teaching quality.