Errors in written productions of French as a foreign language: Analysis of lexical interference and proposals for pedagogical treatment

This research explores the nature of different types of lexical interferences found in written productions of French as a foreign language because of the influence of Spanish as a first language.;Considering that the mother tongue is both a support and a filter for learning a foreign language a model of interference analysis is put forward following a contrastive approach (Spanish as a first language/French as a foreign language). This model combines the procedures of Error Analysis and the theories of Interlanguage Hypothesis in the psycholinguistic processes of learning a foreign language. It also incorporates the recent language teaching contributions concerning language awareness and learning strategies.;The research data were collected from the writings of 3rd year students of French at the University Teacher Training School of Palencia (Spain). The analysis shows that lexical interference is both the result and the process of correspondence mechanisms established by the learner between his first language and the foreign language. Although the origin of interference is mostly semantic, the effects of interference become more evident in formal language levels of words, like morphology and syntax.;Finally, the study suggests some activities geared towards the methodological treatment of interferences in the class and provides a pedagogical proposal for integrating errors into the process of foreign language learning and teaching.