3.2 The Role of Error: Slips, Interlanguage & Interference
Key Takeaways
- Errors are not signs of failure; they are essential evidence of an active, developing cognitive language system (interlanguage).
- Julian Edge categorizes language deviations into slips (self-correctable), errors (beyond self-correction, requiring feedback), and attempts (produced when learners lack target knowledge).
- Interlingual errors stem from L1 interference (negative transfer), whereas intralingual errors result from internal L2 developmental processes like overgeneralization.
- Corrective feedback must balance accuracy and fluency goals; teachers utilize techniques ranging from subtle recasts and prompts to explicit metalinguistic feedback.
3.2 The Role of Error: Slips, Interlanguage & Interference
In early behaviorist language learning models, errors were viewed as undesirable habits that needed immediate eradication through drill and repetition. Contemporary Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research, however, recognizes errors as natural, indispensable windows into the learner's developing language system. For TKT Module 1, candidates must understand why errors occur, how to classify them, and how to manage corrective feedback effectively.
1. Classifying Learner Deviations: Slips, Errors, and Attempts
Linguist Julian Edge introduced a clear taxonomy to help teachers distinguish between different types of non-standard language output:
Julian Edge's Error Taxonomy
| Category | Definition | Learner Awareness | Pedagogical Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slip | A temporary lapse in performance caused by tiredness, inattention, or processing overload. | The learner can self-correct immediately if pointed out. | Give time for self-correction; minimal intervention required. |
| Error | A systematic deviation reflecting an incomplete or incorrect understanding of an L2 rule. | The learner cannot self-correct independently because the rule is not fully acquired. | Provide targeted corrective feedback, peer correction, or clarifying input. |
| Attempt | A non-standard utterance produced when a learner tries to express an idea without knowing the correct structure. | The learner knows they lack the rule and is guessing or circumlocuting. | Supply the target model or reformulation to fill the vocabulary/structure gap. |
2. Causes of Errors: Interlingual vs. Intralingual
Understanding the source of an error helps teachers select appropriate remediation strategies.
Interlingual Errors (L1 Interference / Cross-Linguistic Influence)
Interlingual errors occur when learners transfer patterns, rules, or structures from their native language ($L1$) to the target language ($L2$). This is known as negative transfer or interference.
- Phonological Interference: A Spanish speaker adding a initial vowel to consonant clusters (e.g., saying "eschool" for school).
- Syntactic Interference: A German speaker placing the main verb at the end of a subordinate clause in English.
- Lexical False Friends: A French speaker using eventually to mean possibly (confusing it with the French éventuellement).
- Grammatical Transfer: A Chinese speaker omitting plural markers or articles because mandarin does not inflect nouns for number or use definite articles.
Intralingual Errors (Developmental Errors)
Intralingual errors arise from within the target language itself, independent of the learner's L1. These reflect the learner's active cognitive attempts to process L2 data.
- Overgeneralization: Applying an L2 rule to contexts where it does not belong (e.g., producing regular past tense forms for irregular verbs: "goed", "breaked", "sheeps").
- Ignorance of Rule Restrictions: Failing to observe exceptions to structures (e.g., "He explained me the answer" instead of "He explained the answer to me").
- Incomplete Application of Rules: Omitting required elements in complex structures (e.g., omitting auxiliary verbs in questions: "Where you go yesterday?").
- False Concepts Hypothesized: Misunderstanding semantic distinctions between structures (e.g., using was as a general marker of past time: "One day I was read a book").
3. Larry Selinker's Interlanguage Theory
Coined by Larry Selinker in 1972, Interlanguage refers to the dynamic, autonomous linguistic system constructed by L2 learners as they progress toward the target language. Interlanguage is neither the learner's L1 nor the target L2; it is a unique, rule-governed system in continuous flux.
Native Language (L1) =====> [ Dynamic Interlanguage Continuum ] =====> Target Language (L2)
(Restructuring & Testing)
Key Characteristics of Interlanguage
- Systematic: At any given stage, the interlanguage is governed by internal rules that the learner constructs.
- Dynamic: It continually expands and restructures as new input is processed and tested.
- Variable: Performance fluctuates depending on task demands, context, and emotional state.
Fossilisation
Fossilisation occurs when interlanguage development ceases, and non-target forms become permanently established in a learner's speech or writing, regardless of exposure to further instruction. Causes of fossilisation include:
- Communicative Adequacy: The non-standard form successfully satisfies the learner's communicative needs, leaving no practical incentive to change.
- Lack of Corrective Feedback: Learners repeatedly use erroneous forms without receiving feedback, reinforcing non-target habits.
- Peer Group / Identity: Learners adopt non-standard forms to identify with a specific peer group or preserve cultural identity.
4. Corrective Feedback Strategies in ELT
When and how teachers correct errors depends heavily on whether the activity focuses on accuracy (precision of form) or fluency (smooth flow of communication).
Taxonomy of Corrective Feedback Techniques (Lyster & Ranta)
- Recast: The teacher reformulates all or part of a student's incorrect utterance into a correct form without explicitly pointing out the mistake (Student: "I go to market yesterday." Teacher: "Oh, you went to the market yesterday?").
- Elicitation: The teacher directly prompts the student to self-correct (Teacher: "Yesterday I...? What's the past form of go?").
- Metalinguistic Feedback: The teacher provides comments, information, or questions regarding the well-formedness of the student's utterance without supplying the correct form (Teacher: "Remember, we need a past tense verb here.").
- Clarification Request: The teacher indicates that the utterance was misunderstood or ill-formed (Teacher: "Pardon? Could you say that again?").
- Explicit Correction: The teacher explicitly indicates that what the student said was incorrect and provides the correct form (Teacher: "Not 'goed'. The past tense of go is 'went'.").
- Repetition: The teacher repeats the student's incorrect utterance, raising intonation to highlight the error (Student: "He like apples." Teacher: "He LIKE apples?").
Timing of Error Correction
- Immediate Correction: Appropriate during accuracy-focused tasks, pronunciation drills, or explicit grammar practice.
- Delayed Correction: Recommended during fluency tasks, discussions, and role-plays. The teacher takes notes unobtrusively and addresses common errors on the board after the task completes.
A learner says, 'Yesterday I visit my uncle,' immediately catches herself, and says, 'Oh, I mean visited.' How is this deviation classified under Julian Edge's framework?
A Spanish-speaking student writes 'I am agree with your opinion' because the Spanish equivalent uses the verb 'estar' (to be). What type of error does this demonstrate?
What is 'Interlanguage' as defined by Larry Selinker?
During a communicative fluency discussion, a student makes several minor grammatical errors. What is the most appropriate corrective approach?