Error Analysis On Chinese EFL Learners' English Speech Production

Error analysis (EA) is an analytical tool that is used to identify linguistic errors learners made. 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. Due to the fact that little care has been taken to pick out the errors made by learners at different stages of development, EA has been accused of lacking of lacking longitudinal multi-sampled evidence. On the other hand, Chinese teachers have not yet benefited from the findings of the research, because very few empirical studies have been designed to probe the domain of EA and address the issues arising in longitudinal oral production. With the aid of Error Analysis theory, the present study analyzed the transcribed speech data of Mao Yisheng Transportation Class, Grade 2003, to probe the longitudinal and multisample-conditioned latitudinal development of speech errors of Chinese non-English majors on the campus. By exploring the error concentricity and the major causes of communication failure, the dissertation addressed the need to fill the theoretical vacuum.By means of careful transcription and analysis of the oral production corpus, the results show that the most significant error category detected in subjects' speech production is grammatical error, phonological error ranked as the next in the gravity hierarchy. Lexical error demonstrated as the lowest level of ponderance. The freshman and sophomore are experiencing a crucial transitional period from stressing reading and writing only to the all-round development in listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation. According to the study, it is the Chinese way of thinking, limited time for on-line speech production plus memory limitations, incomplete mastery of word-formation rules, and hasty word picking that causes the surging trend of speech grammar errors and lexical errors, though with less acuteness, committed in the progress communication ability building. While phonological accuracy and fluency, to some degree, are enhanced in the two-year-span under investigation. Error sources can be traced as inter- and intra-lingual influence. Interlingual errors are present at all levels of learning and that they decrease with levels of proficiency. Intralingual errors, like interlingual errors, occur at each stage of learning. Unlike interlingual errors, however, they increase with the levels of learning. In short, in relation to these Chinese EFL students, errors of inter- and intralingual types vary quantitatively but not qualitatively with the proficiency development of learning during the first and second year.The significance of this study is locating the specific areas, where learners have the most difficulty and what error types influence the majority from performing in English effectively. The results of this study should be used to help teacher understand and correct learners' errors in a systematic fashion. Hopefully, this knowledge will aid Chinese language teachers to develop more effective teaching approaches for Chinese speaking learners of English, especially the first and second year non- English majors, and facilitate the compilation of teaching materials.For further research, a replication of this study is suggested, preferably by a research team, on a larger scale, longer time-span and with inferential statistics. In general, more studies in diverse learning contexts and situations are desirable so that more cumulative data-based evidence will pave the way for the foundation of a viable theory of second language learning and teaching, which is the concern and preoccupation of current research in applied linguistics.