Subject: errors in language learning .

james , carl . ( 1998 ) . errors in language learning and use : exploring error analysis . london : longman . isbn 0 582 25763 - 8 ( paperback ) . rrp : 14 . 99 . the analysis of errors in cognitive , linguistic and other psychological processes has a long history dating back to the introduction of signal detection theory in psychophysics and behavioural learning paradigms . although many applied linguists now favour interlanguage paradigms for second-language acquisition , error analysis ( ea ) is still widely used in language classes . the attraction of ea lies in one 's ability to isolate variability in responses , such as distinguishing true errors from " mistakes " , which simple " correct / incorrect " paradigms tend to discard . in this new book on ea in language learning and usage , carl james builds on his earlier work on contrastive analysis and applied linguistics to further explore the role that performance errors play in language acquisition ( particularly second-language acquisition ) . the book consists of a historical overview of ea in applied linguistics , and then embarks on an ambitious attempt to both define and constrain the scope and methodology of ea in language processing and language learning . this methodology includes typologies for classifying and understanding how errors arise , as well as algorithmic specifications for the diagnosis and error correction in clinical and educational settings . the first chapter aims to give a historical overview of ea in the context of its origins , its inspirations , its competitors , and its influences on second language teaching . james defines an error as " an unsuccessful bit of language " ( p . 1 ) which seems to be as succinct and compact a description as i ' ve ever read ! however , this very readable style of writing , whilst appearing informal , is maintained through later chapters where discussion of technical issues could easily have been obfuscated by a poor writing style . first - and second-order paradigms within language learning are described in detail in this chapter , with the interlanguage and crosslinguistic approaches compared with alternatives such as ea and contrastive analysis . idiosyncratic and language-specific difficulties in language learnability are also covered in the context of linguistic change and metalinguistic influences on successful language acquisition . several methods for collecting data in ea are informally introduced in this chapter ( e . g . , error elicitations such as the " broad trawl " ) , which naturally leads into the second chapter on defining the scope of ea in language acquisition . the second chapter begins with an enlightening discussion of popular conceptions of what " proper " language is ( such as the king 's english ) , and catalogues the many failed attempts to enforce a " correct " dialect of english both in britain and asia ( the " complaints " tradition ) . this issue is clearly relevant for defining exactly what an error is , given the absolutist attributions made by some educators and policy makers about the tenability or correctness of certain forms of spoken and written english ( i . e . , " standard " english ) . james outlines some typologies for understanding language norms based on geographical and historical constraints , but correctly identifies deficiencies in these schemes ( particularly the failure , for example , to understand the role of colonialism in language preferences ) . this issue is taken up with respect to the issue of power and authority of native speakers with respect to non-native speakers of english , and conversely how the desire to speak a second language can unwittingly result in language loss and native - language change . chapters 3 , 4 and 5 focus on the definition and description of errors within the ea paradigm , having defined the focus of the ea methodology in the previous chapters . james begins by defining learners ' ignorance of a target language in terms of four categories of deviance : grammaticality , acceptability , correctness and strangeness . it is a clear advantage of the authors ' approach to ea that both grammatical / rational and performance / empirical approaches to language acquisition are covered by his typology , thus not " taking sides " with one viewpoint or the other . this rationale is based on the idea that ea is a methodology rather than a theoretical prescription . this focus continues with a discussion of error detection methods , in the context of locating and describing such errors in different parts of speech and indeed with respect to discourses longer than single sentences or phrases . the importance of a pluralistic approach which is tolerant of differences in dialects is emphasised , whilst ensuring that objective and stationary criteria are applied to utterances and writing within each dialect group . error taxonomies , such as feature and surface structure approaches , are outlined in detail with worked examples , which are one of the key design features of the authors ' pedagogical approach . computer - assisted analysis of errors is also discussed , as are specific algorithmic approaches to rating levels of error in lexical and grammatical processes . the next two chapters focus on diagnosing errors and evaluating their seriousness and impact for second-language learners in particular . possible negative influences , such as interlingual errors arising from conflicts between the target language and mother tongue , are treated in detail , as are intralingual errors and inconsistencies which the non-native speaker encounters for the first time in the target language , such as over-generalisations and false analogies . in addition , the role of culture in influencing and perhaps determining some aspects of linguistic behaviour is discussed , for example , how native speakers might " gate " a non-native speaker . error gravity and comprehensibility are also covered , as are some amusing examples given for " the irritation factor " . the sociopragmatic consequences of error production in social situations , and the potentially negative outcomes for non-native speakers , are also discussed . chapter 8 discusses pragmatic strategies for using ea to correct errors in speech and writing for second language learners . these are enhanced by a number of case studies presented in chapter 9 . the issues covered in these last two chapters are non-trivial for applied linguistics : is second - language teaching effective ? if so , which approaches are best suited to particular kinds of students ? are formal / grammatical or informal / conversational approaches superior ? although james provides no magic answers for any of these questions , he does present a coherent methodology for answering these kinds of questions for individual situations , which is the great appeal of this book . this book would be suitable as an undergraduate or graduate text in applied linguistics or tesl programmes , but will be an invaluable reference for researchers in related fields such as psycholinguistics and machine translation , who might be searching for a more formal methodology for understanding error production in their respective fields . this book will be an indispensable addition to every linguist 's library . reviewed by : paul a . watters , department of computing , school of mathematics , physics , computing and electronics , macquarie university nsw 2109 , australia . tel . : + 61 - 2-9850 - 9541 ; fax : + 61 - 2-9850 - 9551 ; e - mail : pwatters @ mpce . mq . edu . au . paul a . watters is a research officer at macquarie university in australia , and is currently working on computational representations of semantics in models of language and speech production , as well as developing pragmatic approaches to machine translation . he is an associate editor of the south pacific journal of psychology .
