UNIVERSITEIT GENT

FACULTEIT DER LETTEREN EN

WIJSBEGEERTE

ACADEMIEJAAR 2010 – 2011

A COMPARATIVE ERROR ANALYSIS OF ESSAYS BY FIRST-YEAR BACHELORS OF

THE UNIVERSITIES OF GHENT AND LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE.

Masterproef voorgedragen tot het bekomen van de graad van

Master in de Taal-en Letterkunde: Nederlands-Engels Promotoren: Prof. dr. M. Van Herreweghe door Wouter Braet Prof. dr. A. Vandenbergen

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Acknowledgements First of all I would like to thank my promoters prof. dr. Van Herreweghe and prof. dr.

Vandenbergen for both the proposal of the topic and the assistance in the making of this

thesis. I would also like to thank Katrien Deroey for collecting the Ghent essays and those

thanks are also extended to Véronique Bragard, Sylvie Decock and Fanny Meunier from the

university of Louvain-La-Neuve for doing the same there. I am also indebted to mister

Bulcaen and miss Bouckaert of the Dutch and English library for giving me continued

extensions on the books and articles I borrowed. I am much obliged.

A great inspiration regarding structure and points of interest was the work of Lieven Buysse. I

have borrowed his structural organization, as it was the most complete of all the dissertations

that I have read, and added a few elements of my own to it.

I wish to express my gratitude to Elke Braet, Dirk Braet, Hannah Servranckx, Hannah Boyle

and Kirsty Gillen for going over every essay with me to make sure that no errors passed by

unnoticed. The help of Leen Dewicke to get the lay-out up to code was also priceless and for

this I am very thankful.

A final thank you goes to my mother. I would never have been able to complete this task

without her support.

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Table of content

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 THE STUDY OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LEARNING 3

2.1 First versus Second language, native versus foreign language 3

2.2 Learning versus acquisition 4 2.2.1 The role of the teacher and context in SLA and SLL 6 2.2.2 The role of motivation and other factors influencing sla/flt/sll 8 2.2.3 Problems after one has 'mastered' a second language 15

2.3 Error analysis vs. Contrastive analysis 17 2.3.1 Historical overview 17 2.3.2 Interlanguage, idiosyncratic dialect, transitional competence 22 2.3.3 Methodology of error analysis 25

2.3.3.1 Collection of a sample of IL 25 2.3.3.2 Identification of errors 26 2.3.3.3 Description of errors 28 2.3.3.4 Explanation of errors 30 2.3.3.5 Evaluation of errors 31

2.3.4 Limitations and merits of error analysis 33

3 ERROR ANALYSIS OF ESSAYS BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN GHENT 37

3.1 Motivation, aims and methodology 37 3.1.1 Motivation 37 3.1.2 Presentation of the research question and aims 38 3.1.3 Methodology 39

3.1.3.1 Collection of a sample of acquirer language 39 3.1.3.2 Identification of errors 41 3.1.3.3 Description of errors 41 3.1.3.4 Explanation of the erroneous utterances 42

3.2 Spelling 43 3.2.1 Introduction 43 3.2.2 Compounds 44 3.2.3 Punctuation 46

3.2.3.1 Omission 46 3.2.3.2 Addition 48 3.2.3.3 Misselection 50

3.2.4 Errors caused by the non-phonetic nature of English 52 3.2.4.1 Letters written but not pronounced 53 3.2.4.2 Sounds with more than one representation in writing 54 3.2.4.3 Homophony 56

3.2.5 Errors caused by the differences between the sound systems of source language and target

language 57 3.2.6 Analogy 58

3.2.6.1 Phonetic analogy 58 3.2.6.2 Orthographic analogy 58 3.2.6.3 Overgeneralization of a spelling rule 59

3.2.7 Errors that may be attributed to the relatively inconsistent and arbitrary nature of English word

derivation 59

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3.2.8 Interference errors 60 3.2.8.1 Interference from the mother tongue 60 3.2.8.2 Interference from other languages 61

3.2.9 Lapses 62 3.2.10 Conclusion 64

3.3 Grammar 65 3.3.1 Nouns 65

3.3.1.1 Misselection 65 3.3.1.2 Omission 68

3.3.2 Articles 68 3.3.2.1 Omission 68 3.3.2.2 Addition 69 3.3.2.3 Misselection 71

3.3.3 Pronouns 71 3.3.3.1 Personal pronouns 71

1. Misordering 71 2. Misselection 72 3. Omission 72

3.3.3.2 Reflexive pronouns 73 1. Misordering 73 2. Misselection 73 3. Omission 73

3.3.3.3 Possessive pronouns 74 1. Misselection 74 2. Omission 74 3. Addition 75 4. Misordering 75

3.3.3.4 Relative pronouns 75 1. Misselection 75 2. Omission 76 3. Addition 76

3.3.3.5 Demonstrative pronouns 77 1. Misselection 77

3.3.3.6 Indefinite pronoun 77 1. Misselection 77 2. Omission 77

3.3.3.7 Dummy pronoun 78 1. Omission 78 2. Misselection 78

3.3.4 Adjectives 78 3.3.4.1 Misselection 78 3.3.4.2 Misordering 79

3.3.5 Adverbs 80 3.3.5.1 Misselection 80 3.3.5.2 Misordering 81

3.3.6 Verbs 82 3.3.6.1 Omission 83

1. Concord between subject and verb 83 2. Omission of the perfective aspect 84 3. Omission of the progressive aspect 84 4. Omission of primary auxiliaries 84 5. Omission of -ing participle 85

3.3.6.2 Misselection 86 1. Incorrect forms of simple past and past participle 86 2. Tenses 87 3. Auxiliaries 90

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4. Infinitive, ing-participle and gerund(6) 91 3.3.6.3 Misordering 92 3.3.6.4 Addition 94

1. Auxiliaries 94 3.3.7 Prepositions 94

3.3.7.1 Omission 94 3.3.7.2 Misselection 96 3.3.7.3 Misordering 97 3.3.7.4 Addition 98

3.3.8 Conjunctions 99 3.3.8.1 Omission 99 3.3.8.2 Addition 101 3.3.8.3 Misselection 102

3.3.9 Conclusion 105

3.4 Vocabulary 107 3.4.1 Nouns 107

3.4.1.1 Omission 107 3.4.1.2 Misselection 107 3.4.1.3 Misordering 108

3.4.2 Verbs 108 3.4.2.1 Misselection 108

3.4.3 Adverbs and adverbials 110 3.4.3.1 Misselection 110

3.4.4 Adjectives 110 3.4.4.1 Misselection 110

3.4.5 Prepositions 112 3.4.5.1 Omission 112 3.4.5.2 Addition 112 3.4.5.3 Misselection 113

3.4.6 Particles 113 3.4.6.1 Omission 113 3.4.6.2 Addition 113 3.4.6.3 Misselection 114 3.4.6.4 Misordering 114

3.4.7 Conclusion 115

3.5 Style 116 3.5.1 Repetition 116 3.5.2 Abbreviations and contractions 117 3.5.3 Interjections 117 3.5.4 Punctuation 118 3.5.5 Questions 118 3.5.6 Syntactic complexity 118 3.5.7 Misselection 119 3.5.8 Inappropriate style 119 3.5.9 Enigmas 120 3.5.10 Conclusion 121

4 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 122

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

ADDENDUM 1: LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE 1

Overview errors 1 Spelling 1 Grammar 6 Vocabulary 22 Style 27

ADDENDUM 2: GHENT 28

Overview errors 28 Spelling 28 Grammar 34 Vocabulary 50 Style 55

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1 Introduction The present dissertation can be located in the field of contrastive linguistics. To be more

precise, it is a comparative error analysis of essays written by first-year Bachelor students

from the universities of Ghent and Louvain-La-Neuve. The idea for this thesis was inspired by

prof. dr. Vandenbergen, who suggested that the field of language learning and language

acquisition was one worth exploring.

Language students continually seek to improve their proficiency and are likely to want to pit

their skills against one another. The job of a teacher is to excite their pupils and to make sure

they receive the best language instruction as possible. Not only can he or she do so by means

of a personal style of teaching, but also via improved teaching materials. The research field of

Contrastive Analysis tried to answer this call by comparing two languages with each other,

establishing which errors may frequently return and on the basis of that try to make a

prediction about which errors learners will be likely to make. This approach has received its

fair share of criticism, chiefly because it was considered to be too theoretical. From this

criticism Error Analysis was born which sought to compare empirical data of two languages.

The researchers who championed this approach were Lee (1957), Corder (1967, 1972) and

Richards (1971a, 1971b, 1973). Many studies focused on either spontaneous oral utterances

or written translations. Tests were also considered a viable means of gathering data, especially

since they could be manipulated in such a way so as to accommodate the research question.

Essays on the other hand have long been neglected as a valuable elicitation method. A lot of

researchers were focused only on particular aspects of grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary.

It is only since the last two decades that studies have attempted to provide a bigger picture.

However, this picture presented a one-on-one relationship between a source language and a

target language, for example Dutch and French, or German and English. There are few studies

that actually compare two languages regarding their proficiency of a third one. One

dissertation that comes close was written by Lieven Buysse (2001). He had done a

comparative error analysis of English essays by university students from the universities of

Leiden, Utrecht and Ghent to find out whether or not there were differences in language

proficiency and if so, where these were located. This dissertation attempts to do the same but

here the students differ in that their respective native languages are French and Dutch, two of

the three official languages in Belgium. The research will focus on three major questions:

first, is there a group that is more proficient in English than the other. Second, are the errors

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made located in the same categories and third, what could the possible explanations be –if

there are any- for differences in the number of errors within a category?

This dissertation is divided into three parts. The first chapter will deal with an overview of the

literature on language learning and acquisition, as well as the research regarding Contrastive

Analysis and Error Analysis. Theoretical concepts and insights will be introduced and

discussed both for their merits and limitations. The second part is the actual presentation and

discussion of the research data. Some very interesting differences have emerged from the

analysis, as well as some surprising similarities. In the final chapter a general conclusion will

be provided concerning the study. The entire body of research data and a complete overview

of all errors will be made available in a separate addendum.

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2 The study of second language acquisition and learning

2.1 First versus Second language, native versus foreign language It is a general understanding among linguists that a first language refers to the language in

which a subject has been brought up. A native language on the other hand may correspond

with the language of a particular ethnic community or the language of a specific region.

Whereas in Flanders Dutch may be the native language of the Flemish, a second-generation

Turkish immigrant may have been raised in his or her Turkish native language while learning

Dutch at school and from peers.

As for a second language, it is widely accepted that it is an official national language which

plays an institutional and social role in a community and which can therefore be learnt at

school and in social settings. Dörnyei (2003:4) has defined it as

“a learnable school subject in that discrete elements of the communication code (e.g. grammatical rules and lexical items) can be taught explicitly, it is also a deeply social event that requires the incorporation of a wide range of elements of the L2 culture.”

For example, there are 3 national languages in Belgium: Dutch, French and German. They are

obligatory school subjects though the number of lessons for each language varies as students

have to decide in which direction they want to pursue their high school career (languages,

mathematics, technology , ...)

A foreign language, in contrast, is a language which has not been officially recognized by a

country and can therefore only be optionally learnt in classroom contexts or self-study. As

Ellis (2008:6) concisely puts it: 'the language plays no major role in the community and is

primarily learnt only in the classroom.' In Belgium this is the case for English; however it

needs to be said that although English is not an official language it has managed to penetrate

into several fields such as academics, commerce and advertising. The influence of English is

especially visible in Flanders where almost every resident comes into frequent contact with it

and hence has developed several degrees of proficiency in it. English in Belgium seems to

have begun challenging the aforementioned definition of a foreign language in that it starts to

play a major role in the community as a means of identifying oneself with or distancing

oneself from a particular community. Again, this is especially the case for Flanders.

In order to properly deal with the research at hand, we will consider second language and

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foreign language as being of the same sort because they share most of the underlying

processes and as such we will henceforth use both terms interchangeably.

2.2 Learning versus acquisition Gardner (2007:13) somewhat abstractly defines language learning as 'the development of

knowledge and skill that permits varying degrees of communication with others' while

language acquisition is formulated as 'making the language part of the self'. Ellis (2008:7)

following earlier studies is more specific, saying that acquisition 'refers to the subconscious

process of 'picking up' a language through exposure and the latter [learning] to the conscious

process of studying it.' This however has raised questions concerning the issue of the level of

consciousness in both learning and acquisition (see for example McLaughlin 1987). Important

in the debate is the level of attention and intention. If one simply watches a show in a foreign

language just to be amused then it is likely that he or she will acquire far less features of that

language than someone who is in the process of studying that language and is watching this

show to improve his or her skills. A certain intention improves or diminishes attention and

therefore affects the level of acquired proficiency.

Important in this respect is that researchers such as Ellis (1994) and Eysenck (2001) have

made a division between implicit learning and explicit learning, the former referring to

'learning which takes place without either intentionality or awareness' and the latter to

learning which 'is necessarily a conscious process and is likely to be intentional' (Ellis

2008:7).

Tomasello (2001) and N. Ellis (2008) also make a distinction between usage-based and form-

focused language acquisition:

Usage-based models of language focus on the specific communicative events in which people learn and use language. In these models, the psycholinguistic units with which individuals operate are determined not by theoretical fiat but by observation of actual language use in actual communicative events. (Tomasello 2001:1)

Form-focused language acquisition and instruction on the other hand focuses primarily on the

acquisition and teaching of correct morphological, phonological and above all grammatical

forms.

Finally, Gardner (2007:12-13) has provided a model of second language acquisition and

development, which is presented here as figure 1.

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Figure 1: Gardner’s model of language acquisition

As can be observed, there are four stages: elemental, consolidation, conscious expression and

automaticity & thought. These stages more or less correspond with L1 acquisition. In the first

stage 'the individual is learning the basics of the language, vocabulary, grammar,

pronunciations, etc.' In the second stage 'the elements of the language are brought together

and some degree of familiarity with the language is achieved'. During the conscious

expression stage 'the individual can use the language but with a great deal of conscious effort.

[He or she] can communicate thoughts and ideas, but there is a lot of deliberation about what

is being expressed'. The fourth stage indicates that 'at the ultimate stage language and thought

merge and language becomes automatic in most contexts.[...] One no longer thinks about the

language but thinks in the language' (Gardner 2007:12-13). It should be noted that like L1

speakers the L2 speaker who has arrived at the final stage may still make mistakes. Also,

these stages have boundaries which do not take into account the fact that several levels of

proficiency may be possible at any given stage. Much depends on the individual him-or

herself. A lot of debates center around the issue whether or not an ideal L2 speaker -one who

has completely mastered the language- is even possible (see for example Nida 1971, Valette

1971 and N. Ellis 2008).

As may be observed, though researchers agree on the distinction between acquisition and

learning, they quite often use both terms interchangeably.

Another element which influences learning and acquisition is the division between a

naturalistic setting and a classroom-based or instructed context but this will be discussed in

the next subchapter.

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2.2.1 The role of the teacher and context in SLA and SLL

As mentioned above, there is a difference between learners in a naturalistic setting and a

classroom-based or instructed context. A naturalistic setting is a setting outside of a

classroom. The learner's primary contact with the foreign language stems from social

environments and interactions. Schumann (1978) for example conducted a study featuring

Alberto, a 33-year old Costa Rican immigrant in the US. He followed him for ten months in

which he collected a data set of naturalistic and elicited speech. It was found that Alberto had

not made much progress during this period of time, which Schumann explained was due to a

'bad learning situation'. Alberto was not able (or may have lacked the motivation, as

Schumann ventured to suggest) to rise above the immigrant worker community. Schmidt

(1983) however did a similar study with Wes, a 33-year old Japanese immigrant, and found

that although the linguistic improvement was insignificant, the communicative competence

had increased greatly. Schmidt suggested that psychological factors could account better for

the lack in grammatical advancement. He also questioned Schumann's notion of social

distance as a relevant factor.

While naturalistic learning has its advantages, especially when it comes to developing

communicative competence, it was found that it does not produce similar positive effects for

linguistic development. An instructed context however, can do so. DeKeyser (2003) has

drawn a distinction between explicit/implicit instruction and deductive/inductive instruction.

Ellis (2008:879) explains explicit instruction as 'learners are encouraged to develop

metalinguistic awareness of the rule'. Implicit instruction on the other hand 'is directed at

enabling learners to infer rules without awareness'. Housen and Pierrard (2006a) have made a

list of the properties of each type, which is presented in table 1.

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Implicit FFI Explicit FFI

*attracts attention to target form *directs attention to target form

*is delivered spontaneously (e.g. in an

otherwise communication-oriented activity

*is predetermined and planned (e.g. as the

main focus and goal of a teaching activity

*is unobtrusive (minimal interruption of

communication of meaning)

*is obtrusive (interruption of

communicative meaning

*presents target forms in context *presents target forms is isolation

*makes no use of metalanguage *uses metalinguistic terminology (e.g. rule

explanation

*encourages free use of the target form *involves controlled practice of target

form

Table 1 : Implicit and explicit FFI

As for the difference between inductive and deductive instruction, the former is aimed at

students trying to induce a certain grammatical rule from a set of examples whereas the latter

is concerned with explicitly presenting a rule and providing metalinguistic information.

Of course classrooms do not simply offer instruction which is form-based. A great amount of

attention is paid to group interaction, either between students and teacher and between

students themselves. The teacher plays an important role in this respect on 5 levels: attitude,

method, personality, expectancies and corrective feedback.

A teacher who displays a positive attitude towards the learning environment and the subject

that is being taught will most likely spur his or her students to advance in the subject. The

teacher's personality is also paramount in the matter: positivity in the classroom may result in

more interested students. However, one should always keep the authoritative distance in mind.

As far as method is concerned we have already gone into this in the previous paragraphs but

not every method sits equally well with every student. It is important to bear in mind that

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every student is different. Another important aspect is what Valette (1971:69) has called 'the

teacher's mental set'. This refers to the expectancies a teacher holds. They possess a 'self-

fulfilling nature' in that if a teacher expects his or her students to master a certain aspect, they

usually do. The teachers 'must have unknowingly communicated to the children that they

anticipated better intellectual performance'. What Valette probably failed to take into account

is that with certain expectancies comes greater attention for the subject that they wish their

students to master.

Making mistakes is not a terrible act and students can only learn from them. That is, if the

teacher is able to provide corrective feedback. Following Samuda's (2001) classroom-based

study, it was found that explicit feedback was the most successful method of enabling students

to internalize certain forms and to use them accordingly.

In the next section we will consider the role of motivation and other factors which may have

an influence on the learner.

2.2.2 The role of motivation and other factors influencing sla/flt/sll

A. Non-affective variables

Ellis (2008:647-648) lists the most important and most significant factors that may have an

impact on SLA proficiency. The first factor is coined 'language aptitude'. This refers to a

possible innate talent for the study of either a particular language or languages in general.

Skehan (1989) argues that it comprises of several distinct abilities such as auditory ability,

linguistic ability and memory ability. Ellis (2008), following Sawyer and Ranta (2001) and

Oller and Perkins (1978) has also suggested that working memory and intelligence seem to be

involved in determining and predicting language aptitude. He adopts a balance position

between Carroll (1981), who argued against the link between language aptitude and general

intelligence, and Pimsleur (1966;1971) who strongly believed otherwise. Ellis(2008:653)

states that 'intelligence is related to language aptitude but is not isomorphic with it'.

A second factor is 'learning style' or sometimes also labeled 'cognitive style’, ‘personality

type’, ‘sensory preference’ or ‘modality’, depending on which author one is consulting. There

have however been attempts to distinguish cognitive style from learning style in that the

former refers to the stable, pervasive way in which people process information (Dörnyei

2005), whereas the latter is defined as

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“the characteristic cognitive, affective and physiological behaviours that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment[...]. Learning style is a consistent way of functioning, that reflects underlying causes of behaviour.” (Keefe 1979a:4)

The division is somewhat vague but cognitive styles have mostly been viewed as relatively

fixed and learning styles as mutable and subject to change according to experience. They are

also regarded as potentially trainable (see for example Little and Singleton 1990, and Holec

1987). Willing (1987) then listed a number of learning styles which adult ESL learners adopt:

concrete learning style, analytical learning style, communicative learning style and authority-

orientated learning style.

Third, learning strategies help determine a particular learning style. These have been defined

as 'behaviours or actions which learners use to make language learning more successful, self-

directed and enjoyable' (Oxford 1989). Ehrman (2003:3) provides a number of conditions for

a useful learning strategy:

“(a) the strategy relates well to the L2 task at hand, (b) the strategy fits the particular student's learning style preferences to one degree or another, and (c) the student employs the strategy effectively and links it with other relevant strategies.[...] a set of strategies used is called a strategy chain.”

Several authors have created their own taxonomies of learning strategies (see for example

O'Malley and Chamot (1990) and Oxford (1990). Factors which may influence the choice for

a particular learning strategy include, age, motivation, learning style, learner beliefs, learner

experience, task type and gender.

A fourth influencing factor on SLA is 'personality type', though this has been the subject of

much debate. Several studies were conducted on this topic (Guiora, Lane and Bosworth 1967;

Guiora et al 1972; Naiman 1978; Chapelle and Roberts 1986; Griffiths 1991b), but none

proved to be conclusive. This may be explained by the limited framework in which linguists

had been forced to move. Personality has been defined by Pervin and John (2001:4) as those

characteristics of a person which 'account for consistent patterns of feeling, thinking and

behaving'. A distinction is usually made between extraversion/introversion,

neuroticism/stability and psychoticism.

“Extraverts are sociable, like parties, have many friends and need excitement; they are sensation-seekers and risk-takers, like practical jokes and are lively and active. Conversely introverts are quiet, prefer reading to meeting people, have few but close friends and usually avoid excitement.” (Eysenck and Chan 1982:154)

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The difference between neuroticism on the one hand and stability on the other hand can be

defined by the level of commitment to a specific task and the level of desire in perfecting the

task.

Psychoticism then measures tough-mindedness. Psychotic people 'tend to be hostile, cold,

aggressive and have poor interpersonal relations' (Furnham and Heaven 1998:327).

In psychology, the model of personality has been further developed into the 'big five' model,

which distinguishes five dimensions of personality as listed by Ellis (2008:676): (1) openness

to experience, (2) conscientiousness, (3) extraversion-introversion, (4) agreeableness, and (5)

neuroticism-emotional stability. As may be observed, this could offer a more elaborate

framework for the theoretical linguist to move in, which has also been supported by

Verhoeven and Vermeer (2002).

A final non-affective factor that needs some discussion was briefly mentioned by Ehrman

(2003). She believes that psychological boundaries also influence SLA. According to Brown

(2006) there are four types of psychological boundaries: soft, spongy, rigid and flexible.

People with the first kind of boundary are easily manipulated because they tend to merge with

other people's boundaries. The second type is doubtful whether to allow something into their

personal sphere or not. Rigid people are closed off to exterior influences and this is often the

result of prior (negative) experiences. Flexible people then are similar to rigid people but they

have more control and are more balanced. As far as the acquisition of a second language is

concerned, each type of person will deal with exterior influences in a different way and will

decide which elements will be allowed in.

B. Affective variables

Ehrman (2003) lists a number of affective variables such as motivation, self-efficacy,

tolerance of ambiguity, anxiety, defense mechanisms, internal attitudes, self-esteem,

activation, hierarchies of need from safety to self-actualization, self-regulation, self-

management, beliefs, emotional intelligence and self-monitoring. Ellis (2008:647-648) on the

other hand only deals with anxiety, motivation, learner beliefs and willingness to

communicate in his representation because these form a sort of coat rack on which the others

hang. We will therefore follow Ellis as well. First of all the issue of anxiety will be addressed.

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As Horwitz (1995:574) states,

“[t]he essence of foreign language learning is the communication of personally meaningful and conversationally appropriate messages through unfamiliar syntactic, semantic and phonological systems. The language learner must also deal with the stress and ambiguities of communicating within the parameters of an unfamiliar culture.”

There is thus a feeling of tension and stress when learning a foreign language, and it is this

phenomenon which has been labeled foreign language anxiety. MacIntyre and Gardner (1994)

have identified three stages in foreign language anxiety: input stage, processing stage and

output stage. Dewaele (2002:24) provides a concise explanation of the processes in each

stage:

“Foreign language students can experience fear at the input stage when they are presented with new information in the foreign language. This anxiety can have detrimental effects on their concentration and ability to encode linguistic stimuli. Secondly, anxiety at the processing stage can debilitate cognitive operations performed on external stimuli and memory processes. The students may experience a reduced ability to understand messages and learn new vocabulary. Finally, anxiety at the output stage can interfere with the retrieval of previously learned material and might hinder the students' ability to produce the foreign language.”

Several researchers (MacIntyre 1999; Saito and Samimy 1996) have noticed that foreign

language anxiety does not diminish as proficiency increases. It was found that the highest

levels of anxiety appeared among more advanced subjects. Saito and Samimy (1996)

attempted to explain this by referring to an increased degree of difficulty and decreased time

for instruction. What Saito and Samimy failed to observe in my opinion is that increased

anxiety among advanced subjects is quite normal since students are expected to speak the

foreign language more or less fluently, and failure to do so may result in expulsion or negative

responses from the peer group.

Onwuegbuzie, Bailey and Daley (1999) investigated 26 possible influencing factors on

foreign language anxiety and narrowed it down to seven significant variables: academic

achievement, prior history of visiting foreign countries, prior high school, experience with

foreign languages, expected overall average for current language course, perceived scholastic

competence and perceived self-worth. Several researchers have also contributed to this

research by identifying an eighth factor, namely the level of skill in one's native language

(Ganschow and Sparks 1996; Sparks, Artzer, Ganschow, Siebenhar, Plageman and Patton

1998), and a ninth, respectively the link between foreign language anxiety and interpersonal

relationships (Dörnyei and Kormos 2000).

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A last remark concerning the topic of anxiety is that many researchers (like Dewaele 2002)

believe that foreign language anxiety may be language dependent in that the causes for

anxiety may differ from one language to another.

Willingness to communicate is a somewhat more complex construct. It is defined by

MacIntyre, Baker, Clement and Conrad (2001:369) as ' the intention to initiate

communication, given a choice'. The construct is influenced by factors such as

communication anxiety, perceived communicative competence and perceived behavioural

control. It is seen as ' a final-order variable, determined by other factors, and the immediate

antecedent of communication behaviour' (Ellis 2008:697). It is clear that personality and

motivation also play an important role. As classroom teaching has now become more prone to

adopting communicative strategies, the importance of communication in itself should not be

underestimated in the development of foreign language proficiency.

A third variable is coined learners' beliefs. These are assumptions and notions a person has

about an object, often based on experience or on rumor. Over the years researchers have tried

to classify several types of beliefs. A first attempt was made by Horwitz (1978a) who

identified five areas of beliefs based on his analysis: (1) the difficulty of language learning in

general, (2) aptitude for language learning, (3) the nature of language learning, (4) learning

and communication strategies and (5) motivation and expectations. Wenden (1986,1987)

classified beliefs along three categories: (1) use of the language, (2) learning about the

language and (3) the importance of personal factors. Ellis (2008) has noticed a change in the

research from simply listing types of beliefs to attempting to classify them and to link them to

metacognitive knowledge.

It was mentioned before that beliefs are very likely to stem from past experience. What

remains unclear and unproved however is the effect of culture, personality and cognitive style

on beliefs. Further research in this field could be useful to find out to what extent learners'

beliefs really influence language learning. What researchers do agree on is the fact that they

are situation specific and dynamic.

The next section deals with a fourth variable namely motivation. This particular variable

however has grown into a research topic in its own right and will be more thoroughly

discussed as such.

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C. Motivation

Motivation is indeed an affective variable but it is regarded as a much more complex item in

psycholinguistics. Therefore the issue will be treated as a third segment.

L2 motivation research originated in Canada in the 1960's due to its unique linguistic

situation. The research started with a social psychological emphasis because of it. Early

studies by Gardner and Lambert (1972)

“viewed L2's as mediating factors between different ethnolinguistic communities in multicultural settings. They considered the motivation to learn the language of the other community to be a primary force responsible for enhancing or hindering intercultural communication and affiliation.” (Dörnyei 2003:4)

Motivational research has since then developed further with Gardner as one of its leading

authorities, introducing such concepts as integrative and instrumental orientation, the former

referring to a desire to identify with the L2 community whereas the latter signifies a wish to

be able to use the L2 proficiently enough in order to advance career-wise. Graham (1984) has

identified a third motivational category, namely assimilative motivation. It resembles

integrative orientation but is slightly different since it refers to 'the learners' desire to

assimilate into the new culture' (Horwitz 1995:574). Noels (1990), following Clément and

Kruidenier (1983) argued in favour of four orientations: travel, friendship, knowledge and

instrumental orientations. I would rather argue that Gardner's and Graham's suggestions be

complemented with a fourth orientation which I would like to name the personal enrichment

orientation. It refers to the desire to learn as it gives a person a sense of fulfillment.

As decades passed a cognitive revolution took place, and new theories have been developed in

motivational research.

The first is Deci and Ryan's (1985;2002) self-determination theory, which is mainly

associated with the concepts of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation

'generally refers to motivation to engage in an activity because that activity is enjoyable and

satisfying to do.[...]IM is founded upon innate needs for competence and self-determination'

(Noels, Pelletier and Vallerand 1990:38), whereas extrinsically motivated behaviours 'are

those actions carried out to some instrumental end, such as earning a reward or avoiding

punishment' (Noels et al. 1990:39). These two types of motivation have been pitted against

amotivation, 'which refers to the situation in which people see no relation between their

actions and the consequences of those actions; the consequences are seen as arising as a result

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of factors beyond their control' (Noels et al. 1990:40). Noels was the first author to link self-

determination theory to L2 motivational issues and has been championing it ever since

together with Pelletier and Vallerand.

A second theory is labeled attribution theory. It was first introduced by Heider, Kelley, Jones

and Ross in the field of social psychology but it was Weiner (1974;1980;1986;1992) who

developed a complete framework. Attribution theory, as Dörnyei (2003:8) summarizes, is

concerned with the assumption that 'the subjective reasons to which we attribute our past

successes and failures considerably shape our motivational disposition'. In other words, future

motivation for a task depends on past causes for failure or success in that task. The three

elements of attribution theory are locus-the location of a cause-, stability-whether or not the

cause is of a dynamic nature- and controllability-whether or not one can maintain control over

the cause.

During the 1990's several researchers (Belmechri and Hummel 1998; McClelland 2000)

returned to the earlier notions of orientations but referred to them as 'goals' and provided more

detailed descriptions and explanations. Also, as technological advancement progressed, new

fields of research opened up, with for example Schumann (1998;1999) investigating the brain

mechanisms involved in second language acquisition. He distinguished five dimensions in the

brain in his stimulus appraisal theory: novelty, pleasantness, goal/need significance, coping

potential and self- and social image. Dörnyei (2003:10) agrees with Schumann and claims that

he has demonstrated that 'stimulus appraisals become part of the person's overall value system

through a special 'memory for value' module, and thus they are largely responsible for

providing the affective foundation of human action'.

Several researchers have also tried to define an ideal highly motivated learner. Ehrman

(2003:7) says that they

“(a) possess self-efficacy; (b) have an internal locus of control (...), the belief that they control to a significant degree the outcomes of their learning and that their success is not externally controlled by fate, the teacher or other factors; (c) have positive attitudes toward learning, a need for achievement, and intrinsic motivation; and (d) desire both social relatedness and self-direction or autonomy(...).”

Gardner (2007:10) adds some desirable personality traits and other characteristics to that list

as he states that 'the motivated individual is goal directed, expends effort, is persistent, is

attentive, has desires (wants), exhibits positive affect, is aroused, has expectancies,

15

demonstrates self-confidence (self-efficacy), and has reasons (motives)'.

A final remark on the topic of motivation is that there seems to be a difference between

language learning motivation and classroom learning motivation. The former is seen as the

motivation to acquire a second language. The latter refers to the motivation a person might

develop in a classroom type framework, in which every element (such as the teacher, course

content, class materials and more) may influence the learner. As Gardner (2007:11) mentions,

'[t]he focus is on the individual's perception of the task at hand, and is largely state oriented'.

2.2.3 Problems after one has 'mastered' a second language

After one has successfully taken second language courses, it is not always the case that that

person has obtained a decent level of proficiency. The same holds true for some people who

fail to learn a second language despite continued exposure. The failure may be attributed to

either language inaptitude or a lack of motivation.

Another problem which may occur after what Nida (1971) has coined the 'initiation rites of

language learning' is that many people simply start leveling off in language learning after

these rites. Nida (1971:63) has identified three sociopsychological elements regarding

leveling off:' (1) intellectual fatigue (...), (2) no feeling for the need of greater identification

with the surrounding community and (3) the conviction that further effort will not produce

compensatory results'. But it is not only the learner who is at fault. The second language

community may 'promote' this leveling off for three reasons: '(1) the loss of hope that the

learner is likely to improve, (2) the greater ease in adjusting to the learner's lower level than in

attempting to teach him in advance, and (3) the advantage of keeping such a person relatively

isolated and thus in a position where he can be more readily controlled'.

Finally a decline in general language ability may occur. This decline might manifest itself in

both the second language and/or in the mother tongue. An important factor here is continuous

exposure to another language or, at the other end of the continuum, a lack of exposure to a

previously learned language. Another reason may involve a shift in communication role from

a submissive to a dominant position in which a person controls the information and often also

the language in which he or she wishes to be addressed. Finally, language anxiety can also

occur after one has supposedly mastered a language. As we have mentioned before, research

has shown that anxiety was more prominent in advanced language learners. The fear of not

being successful in language mastery may sometimes prove crippling.

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After this introduction of the numerous factors which may impede language learning and have

an effect on language production, the following chapter will deal with error analysis and

contrastive analysis.

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2.3 Error analysis vs. Contrastive analysis

2.3.1 Historical overview

Error analysis as methodology and as a scientific tool was in its conception a reaction to and a

development of contrastive analysis (which will be henceforth referred to as CA in

comparison to error analysis which will be indicated by EA). Contrastive analysis was not

new since it had its roots in comparative philology, which had been one of the leading

paradigms in the nineteenth century. The idea of comparing languages is thus not new but CA

did have a new aim, namely to develop new language teaching materials. Fries mentioned in

1945 that

“the most effective materials are those that are based upon a scientific description of the language to be learned, carefully compared with a parallel description of the native language of the learner.” (qtd in Nickel 1971:2)

Nickel stresses that aim in the development of CA, saying that

“[t]he role of applied contrastive linguistics must be seen in connection with overall endeavors to rationalize foreign-language teaching. It must also be dealt with within the general framework of school-teaching.” (Nickel 1971:1)

Moreover, both CA and comparative philology(CP) have a great number of differences in

aims and methods. Whereas CP was mainly if not wholly interested in establishing

phylogenetic relationships between several languages and thus attempted to recreate a parent

language, CA on the other hand was principally occupied with improving methods and results

for the teaching of languages. As for the methods involved, CP focused primarily on the

comparison between individual words and sounds whereas CA occupied itself with a wider

scope on languages.

CA had not been fully acknowledged as a legitimate part of linguistic science until the

appearance of Robert Lado’s Linguistics across Cultures. Applied Linguistics for Language

Teacher in 1957, in which he had laid out the basic principles of CA:

“[t]he plan of the book rests on the assumption that we can predict and describe the patterns that will cause difficulty in learning, and those that will not cause difficulty, by comparing systematically the language and culture to be learned with the native language and culture of the student.” (Lado qtd in Svartvik 1973:7)

A very important element within CA is prediction. Contrastive analysts strongly believe that

with comparing languages and identifying frequent problems errors can be predicted. These

predicted errors can then in turn be solved through the process of drilling the students so as to

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steer them clear from these errors.

In order for a methodology to arise, an old one needs to have been subject to substantial

criticism. CA too has received its fair share during the 1960s and 1970s. Nickel (1971:6-7)

says that

“in the first place, it must, of course, be conceded that many foreign-language teachers have long recognized difficulties caused by interference from the source language.[…]In the second place, contrastive linguistics is not at all committed to the view that all mistakes made by learners of foreign languages are caused by interference from the source language.[…]There is, of course, also interstructural interference between target languages. Finally, mistakes may have ‘physiological’ and ‘psychological’ origins.”

Many authors have also problematized the equivalence of target language and source

language structures. Snook (1971:17) clearly states that ‘[t]his conception is surely based on a

false premise, for it is by no means intuitively plain that mere scrutiny and comparison of SL

and TL structures will permit the prediction of TL deviations’. He suggests that, in order to

advance

“the possibility of establishing regular correlations between TL errors on the one hand and relations of similarity and dissimilarity between SL and TL structures, one must first know what kinds of error are made.”

One can thus recognize the growing need for an empirical basis for contrastive linguistics.

Snook(1971:18) defines this as ‘error genesis’ and identifies a new or different main objective

of contrastive analysis, namely the explanation and not prediction of TL errors. This new

focus came to be because a lot of researchers had realized that the prediction of errors proved

to be quite limited and unreliable. Errors that should have manifested themselves did not and

errors that should have been avoided emerged.

After all that criticism there were of course other linguists who wanted to offer a rebuttal.

James (1970:54-66) listed almost if not all criticisms on CA based on the works by Lee

(1968), Corder (1967), Wilkins (1968), Newmark and Reibel (1968), Hamp (1968), Hadlich

(1965) and many others and has tried to refute them. They are listed in the following order:

1) Interference from the L1 is not the sole source of error in L2-learning. There are other sources, which CA fails to predict. Even the unsophisticated teacher who knows no linguistics is conscious of more errors than CA can predict.

James (1970:54) answers to this criticism in a very simple manner, namely by pointing out

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that CA has never claimed that L1 interference is the only source of error. Indeed, when the

literature on the subject is scrutinized such a claim has never been put forward.

2) The predictions of student errors in L2 made by CA are not reliable.

James is fully aware of that fact but he nonetheless quotes Lado(1968:125) in saying that CA

claims no more than the ability to predict ‘behaviour that is likely to occur with greater than

random frequency’. As the word ‘likely’ indicates, the purpose of CA is not the display its

omniscience or psychic abilities, it is rather a tool that can be used to identify frequent

mistakes and which can be acted upon.

3) CA is based on, and perpetuates, a naïve view of language structure.

The criticism here claims that CA would be committed to the view of language learning as a

process which upholds the principle of one little bit at a time. James (1970:57) points out that

‘recent work in generative grammar has shown that what seem to be bits of isolated language

fall together at deeper levels of structure’ and that ‘ CA is as cognisant[sic] of these findings

as are the writers just quoted [nb Newmark and Reibel 1968]’. Furthermore he adds that ‘it is

the conventions for stating points of interlingual difference which give the erroneous

impression that CA endorses an atomistic view of language’. He also says that it is fairly

obvious and even pedagogically desirable to break down an enormous entity like a language

into smaller more digestible parts which are easier to learn for (and teach to) the layman.

4) There are no established criteria for comparability.

James counters this statement by referring to the work of Halliday, McIntosh and Strevens

(1964) in which the authors proposed the criterion of translational equivalence. James

(1970:58) also claims that the form and placement of rules in grammar-criterion has already

been put to good use and that

“[s]ubsequent CA work in the T-G framework has attempted to elaborate this approach, while there have been significant attempts to integrate the translation criterion explicitly with the T-G approach, proposing such factors as ‘congruence’ and ‘equivalence’.”

5) CA endorses a teacher-centered rather than a learner-centered approach to foreign language learning.

James (1970:59) disagrees with this criticism although he does understand where the

misconception might have originated from. However, though there is indeed a great amount

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of focus on the teacher, it is the student who learns: ‘the teacher cannot learn for him, but he

can provide optimal conditions for learning’.

6) CA only conceives of interference in one direction, from L1 to L2.

James (1970:61) admits that CA does indeed focus primarily on this direction of interference

and he believes CA is right to do so since it is the ‘form most prevalent in L2 learning’. He

does however refute the claim that CA is solely occupied with this mono-directional streak.

Jakobovits (1969:70) for example has already coined the term ‘Backlash interference’ for the

influence of the L2 on the L1.

There are 3 more criticisms which have been listed in James’ article but these are mostly

concerned with interference and not with CA per se. These criticisms will be dealt with later

on when interlanguage and interference are discussed.

As a result of all the criticism another (but not separate) research method was favoured,

namely error analysis. Some of the most influential proponents of this approach were Lee

(1957), Corder (1967,1972) and Richards (1971a, 1971b,1973). EA had been common

practice for a while in language pedagogy but it had been lacking seeing that it did not have a

theoretical framework and a consistent methodology. As mentioned before, EA moved from

CA in that it put the focus on gathering empirical data. Language teachers observed frequently

recurring mistakes, identified and categorized them and based their lessons on these. Lee

(1957) is one of the first researchers who has extensively described this practice and has

further developed it. He proposed that errors should be gathered at the three stages of the

learning process, namely the beginner, intermediate and advanced stage in order to identify

errors which persist during said process. Another objective was that early errors could be

differentiated from more advanced errors. Richards (1973:114) has defined the field as

‘dealing with the differences between the way people learning a language speak, and the way

adult native speakers of the language use the language’. Richards was also the one to divide

errors into three categories such as interference errors, intralingual errors and developmental

errors. In Schachter’s and Celce-Muria’s (1977:443) these errors are clearly explained:

“The interference errors are those caused by the influence of the learner’s mother tongue on his production of the target language in presumably those areas where the languages clearly differ.”

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“The intralingual errors are those originating within the structure of English itself. Complex rule-learning behavior is typically characterized by overgeneralization, incomplete application of rules, and failure to learn conditions for rule application. When the complexity of English structure encourages such learning problems, all learners, regardless of background language, tend to commit similar errors.”

“The developmental errors reflect the strategies by which the learner acquires the language. These errors show that the learner –oftentimes completely independent of his native language- is making false hypotheses about the target language based on limited exposure to it.”

EA as a field attempts to explain all kinds of errors. Researchers hope furthermore to gain a

deeper insight into the language acquisition processes and to pinpoint difficulties that may be

caused by the differences in nature between various languages. They have established that L2

learners possess a kind of interlanguage, which finds itself on a continuum between the L1

and the L2. This concept of interlanguage will be more thoroughly explored in 2.3.2.

Corder is another researcher who has greatly contributed to the development of EA. In his The

significance of Learner’s Errors (1967) he established a link between the acquisition of an L1

and the learning of an L2 language, claiming that the processes involved are very similar. He

also cautioned other researchers to be careful when identifying errors, saying that they should

be distinguished from mistakes. These are random errors that could even be made by native

speakers. Errors as such are different from mistakes in that they reflect a learner’s transitional

competence or at which particular level of interlanguage that learner is. In a later article

Corder (1972) also distinguishes between remedial and developmental EA, the former

‘facilitating teacher evaluation and correction, the latter being used to describe the successive

transitional dialects of a language learner’(Schachter and Celce-Muria 1977:444).

The link between CA and EA should now be more or less clear. These do not exist as separate

entities but instead fulfill a complementary role. Following Nickel (1973) it can be said that

EA can be used as a way of verifying or even falsifying certain research done by CA.

Hammarberg (1973:29) acknowledges the common properties of both CA and EA but he feels

that EA is ‘less restricted’. On top of that, EA concerns itself with the description of all types

of linguistic errors unlike CA which mainly if not only occupies itself with interlingual

transfer.

In the next paragraphs the concept of and problems concerning interlanguage will be

discussed.

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2.3.2 Interlanguage, idiosyncratic dialect, transitional competence

Interlanguage was originally defined by Selinker (1972:214) as ‘a separate linguistic system’

which underlies a ‘learner’s attempted production of a TL norm’. He first coined the term in

1969 and it has become a legitimate term, suppressing others like ‘approximative system’

(Nemser 1971) and ‘transitional competence’(Corder 1967). He rejected the use of specific

elicitation tasks believing that ‘the only observable data to which we can relate predictions are

the utterances which are produced when the learner attempts to say sentences of a TL’. He

was strongly opposed to the use of a learner’s grammatical intuitions about his or her own IL

because they would only ‘provide information about another system, the one the learner is

struggling with, i.e. the TL’(Selinker 1972, qtd in Tarone 1983:146). Several other

researchers, including Tarone (1983), Corder (1973) and Schachter, Tyson and Diffley (1976)

however have made use of various data elicitation tasks and the latter actually adhere to a

completely opposite view from Selinker:

“we believe that NO attempt at the characterization of the learner’s interlanguage which is based solely on collecting and organizing the utterances produced by the learner will be descriptively adequate (Chomsky 1965). We are interested in characterizing learner knowledge of his language, not simply learner production.” (Schachter, Tyson and Diffley 1976:67)

In her work Tarone has shown that different elicitation tasks do produce variation in the

language learner’s production of IL and may also produce different claims regarding the

nature of the interlanguage system. She explores the way ‘in which three different paradigms

for the study of interlanguage handle the phenomenon of variability in interlanguage systems’

(Tarone 1983:142). These three paradigms are first of all the Homogenous Competence

Paradigm as described by Adjemian (1976,1981), in which a Chomskyian paradigm for the

study of language is employed, second, the Capability Continuum paradigm to which she

herself adheres and which advocates a view on IL as consisting of a continuum of styles and

finally she considers the Dual Competence Paradigm as proposed by Krashen (1981), of

which the Monitor Theory is the prime example. These paradigms are all based on a number

of assumptions which Tarone thoroughly explores and compares in her article. She concludes

by reaffirming that different elicitation tasks systematically produce different IL behavior. She

also says that

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“[a] review of three paradigms for the study of interlanguage has shown that the different assumptions these paradigms make about the nature of the underlying IL system lead to different decisions about the best data to characterize IL. The data gathered within each paradigm tend to reinforce that paradigm’s basic assumption about the nature of the underlying IL system being modelled.” (Tarone 1983:159)

The concept of interlanguage needs to be elaborated upon to a deeper extent. It is not a static

synchronic construct, though most of the research has tended to refrain from diachronic

investigations, most likely because they wished to avoid the time-consuming and arduous

labour of following the test subjects around for a number of years. Also, the motto of the

academic world should not be forgotten: publish or perish. To summarize, interlanguage

means two things: ‘(1) the learner’s system at a single point in time and (2) the range of

interlocking systems that characterizes the development of learners over time’ (McLaughlin

1987:60).

According to Selinker (1972 in McLaughlin 1987:61), there are five cognitive processes

involved in second-language learning:

(1) Language transfer: some items, rules, and subsystems of the interlanguage may result from transfer from the first language.

(2) Transfer of training: some elements of the interlanguage may result from specific features of the teaching process used to teach the second language.

(3) Strategies of second-language learning: some elements of the interlanguage may result from a specific approach to the material to be learned.

(4) Strategies of second-language communication: some elements of the interlanguage may result from specific ways people learn to communicate with native speakers of the target language.

(5) Overgeneralization of the target language linguistic material: some elements of the interlanguage may be the product of overgeneralization of the rules and semantic features of the target language.

The concept of transfer has been more thoroughly discussed by Wode (1981) who particularly

focused on the transfer of typological organization. Schachter (1974) turned her attention to

the avoidance that may occur during transfer, while she also observed that certain elements

would be overproduced (Schachter and Rutherford 1979). Furthermore, she also speculated

that prior knowledge may impede the formation and modification of hypotheses about a new

language. But transfer is not a wholly negative process. In some cases transfer may also

facilitate language learning.

Selinker believed that the development of the second language was different from the

development of the first language because of the process of fossilization that may occur in a

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second language. Fossilization is when a learner ceases to try to expand his or her knowledge

of the second language. This may be due to the fact that a certain goal has been reached, like

for example to be able to communicate understandably with a native speaker, or to be able to

write a scientific article. Selinker (1972) claimed that fossilization was especially the case for

language transfer. Some linguistic items or grammatical structures may be hard to get rid of,

for example the application of the French sentence structure to an English sentence. The

interlanguage hypothesis was first developed to describe the language learning processes of

adults but researchers gradually came to understand the relevance of it for the processes

which underlie infant second-language learning.

All of the above seems to suggest that variability in interlanguage is quite systematic. For the

most part it is but non-systematic variability may sometimes also be observed. Ellis(1985a)

was one of the first to note this. McLaughlin(1987) argues that Ellis followed Huebner’s

(1983) view ‘that learners acquire forms that are used to realize existing functions, which later

are mapped onto the exact functions they serve in the target language’. In addition to this,

during the early stages of second-language development, ‘new forms are used that have not

yet been integrated into the learner’s form-function system. Two or more forms may be used

in variation’. This led Ellis to introduce non-systematic variability as part of the

aforementioned process. He thought it to be a necessity in the acquisition process whereby

learners use a new form for a range of functions and then try to determine which function the

form best serves. This focus on form and function led to two different approaches: on the one

hand there are researchers who believe that the learner commences with forms, like Huebner

and Ellis, on the other hand there are those who believe that functions precede forms or even

that there is acquisition of function without the acquisition of form (Dittmar 1981, Meisel

1982, Sato 1984).

For this research we have opted to compare essays of first bachelor students from the

universities of Ghent and Louvain-La-Neuve. These essays on the one hand were obligatory

as a part of the English linguistics course for the Flemish population and on the other hand

they were a part of the English exam for the Walloon population. It is our belief that since

these essays were subject to grading, pupils would have been more inclined to put in a little

extra effort so as to make sure their English is as flawless as possible. In other words, these

essays could be seen as tools to draw out the learner’s true interlanguage potential and English

ability. In the next section the methodology of error analysis will be discussed.

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2.3.3 Methodology of error analysis

2.3.3.1 Collection of a sample of IL

There are five steps to any successful error analysis. These five steps have been suggested by

Corder (1971, 1973a, 1974) and have been generally accepted by the scientific community.

The steps involve first of all the collection of a sample of learner language (which we have

labeled interlanguage), then the researcher moves on to identify the errors, which he or she

will then in turn describe and explain. The last step involves the evaluation of errors.

As stated before, the elicitation of data can have a major effect on the results of the research.

This is due to the different production processes which are involved in certain elicitation

techniques. Some researchers prefer natural production, which is more or less spontaneous

language, to these elicitation methods. Corder (1973) preferred to use elicited data because

there simply was not enough natural data to conduct research with. He had identified two

strands of elicitation techniques: clinical and experimental elicitation. The former means that

the researcher attempts to make the subject produce some sort of data, generally through the

use of an interview or by asking him or her to write something down. The latter makes use of

experimental devices or instruments, specifically designed to elicit a response on the features

the researcher desires to investigate. It is clear that by using essays in this thesis we have

opted for the clinical approach.

Now why is the collection of samples something that must not be taken lightly? According to

Ellis (2008:47),’ many EA studies paid little attention to these factors, with the result that they

are difficult to interpret and almost impossible to replicate’. Furthermore he says that ‘the

majority of EA’s have been cross-sectional rather than longitudinal, thus making it difficult to

determine accurately the different errors that learners produce at different stages of their

development’. In order to obtain the most objective data, Corder suggests that the acquirer

should be limited in his or her choice of production method. He denounces the use of

traditional tests, exam exercises and even essays:

“[they] are normally designed to measure what the learner knows of the target languet, or, at least, that part of it he has been taught.[…]Tests are not devised to ask the question: what does the learner know? What are the rules he is using and the systems and categories he is working with?” (Corder 1973b:40)

Essays are indeed not wholly ideal as an elicitation method since there could be a very real

26

chance that writers may use avoidance strategies. Especially when the subjects know they will

be graded, as has been the case for the essays collected in this dissertation, they might employ

several strategies which will enable them to avoid any risk-taking in their writing. So, instead

of using traditional methods, Corder opts for certain elicitation procedures, which are defined

as ‘any procedure which causes a learner to make a judgment about the grammatical

acceptability of a form or provokes him into generating a linguistic response’ (Corder

1973b:41).

Lastly, there are three types of error analyses, which have been described by Ellis(1994:49)

based on the size of the samples:

“Massive sample: several samples of language use are collected from different groups of acquirers in order to make the study representative of the entire community of speakers. Specific sample: only one sample is taken from a limited group of acquirers. Incidental sample: just one sample is used, produced by a single acquirer.”

Researchers often turn to specific samples since they cannot draw any general conclusions

from incidental samples and because gathering and processing a massive amount of samples

is a very time-consuming task.

2.3.3.2 Identification of errors

There is no clear-cut definition of what exactly an error is. Attempts at defining this concept

have been made, for example by Ellis (1994:51): ‘[a]n error can be defined as a deviation

from the norms of the target language’. The problem with this definition lies in the words

‘norms’ and ‘deviation’. Almost every language of the world has different varieties attached to

certain groups of the population with differences in social, economic and cultural status. They

range on a continuum from dialect to standardized, codified language. This standardized

language is by general definition the language of the socially, culturally and economically

dominant group. When learning a foreign language a learner usually tends to adopt the

standardized version since it is more widely understood and it has been codified so there are

plenty of resources available for the study of said language variety. The problem that learners

of English face however is that it consists of several officially recognized varieties. America,

England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada among others have developed their own norm.

Furthermore, because of the fact that English is one of the most powerful lingua franca in the

world, several other nations have adopted some form of it as an or the official language and

thus they aid in the evolution of English. Other nations may not introduce English as an

27

official language but nonetheless they might use it in various contexts because of its prestige

and functionality. This is the case for Belgium for instance. Usually these countries tend to

borrow the language variety which is geographically speaking closest to them and that is why

Belgium advocates British English in its educational practices. The use of American English

is not discouraged though students are advised that they remain consistent in their choice.

Another issue that is raised in the identification of errors is whether an item is really an error

or just a lapse or mistake. The difference between these has been outlined in Ellis (1994:51):

“[a]n error (in this technical sense) takes place when the deviation arises as a result of a lack of knowledge. It represents a lack of competence. […] A mistake occurs when learners fail to perform their competence. That is, it is the result of processing problems that prevent learners from accessing their knowledge of a target language rule and cause them to fall back on some alternative, non-standard rule that they find easier to access.”

Ellis does not mention lapses but these have been defined by Corder (1973a:259) as ‘slips of

the tongue or pen’ and ‘false starts’. The distinction between error and mistake had sprung

forth from the distinction between errors of competence and errors of performance. Errors of

performance were seen as unsystematic, which meant that they could not teach the researcher

anything about how the process of language acquisition came about. The errors of

competence on the other hand were viewed as systematic and thus they could provide the

researchers with insight into a learner’s ‘transitional competence’(Corder 1967:167) i.e. his or

her interlanguage system. Corder believed that mistakes should not be included in the

research since they depend on external factors such as stress, tiredness, illness and more. They

tell nothing of the learner’s level of competence. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for native

speakers to make mistakes as well. Corder has expanded on the notion of mistakes even more

by pointing out that there are also differences between referential and stylistic mistakes.

Referential mistakes are essentially disruptions in the ‘relation which holds between linguistic

forms and objects or events (or classes of these) in the world ‘outside’ (Corder 1973a:280).

Stylistic mistakes then are harder to discern, as they mostly depend on a hearer’s

‘Sprachgefühl or personal judgment’ (Corder 1973a:282).

This dissertation has taken into account the difference between lapse, mistake and error,

although not many of those slip-ups have been found.

A third issue concerns the difference between an overt and a covert error. An overt error is

easy to recognize, like a faulty formation of the past simple or misselection of a preposition. A

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covert error on the other hand is harder to detect. It ‘occurs in utterances that are superficially

well-formed but which do not mean what the learner intended them to mean’ (Ellis 1994:52).

The misselection of a noun demonstrates this very clearly, for example the use of the word

trial in a school-based context, the correct word for which would be a test. The existence of

covert errors instilled a belief in Corder that every sentence was essentially idiosyncratic until

proven otherwise.

A final question that researchers should pose themselves is whether or not grammaticality or

acceptability should be the foundation of their error analysis. As Ellis (2008:47) has indicated,

‘an utterance may be grammatically correct but pragmatically unacceptable’. He exemplifies

this by the sentence ‘I want to read your newspaper’ addressed to a stranger. As we can clearly

understand, this sentence is in every aspect grammatically correct but it is not something one

would say to a person he or she has never met before.

2.3.3.3 Description of errors

As can be expected, there is no unified approach for the description of errors. Describing

errors however has been defined by Ellis (1994:54) as involving ‘a comparison of the

learner’s idiosyncratic utterances with a reconstruction of those utterances in the target

language. It requires, therefore, attention to the surface properties of the learners’ utterances’.

This implies that once an error has been identified, they can be classified without the

researcher having to identify the sources of the error. Several linguists have devised their own

taxonomies for the description of errors, the most important of which will be discussed below.

Taxonomy based on linguistic categories

Linguistic categories are for example syntax, vocabulary, spelling, and so on. Depending on

what a linguist is trying to investigate he or she may break these down into further

subcategories. Researchers who have adhered to this taxonomy are among others Duskova

(1969), Richards (1971b), Burt and Kiparsky (1972), Politzer and Ramirez (1973) and

Chamot (1978,1979). This kind of taxonomy enables linguists to describe specific errors in a

highly detailed manner and they also allow for ‘a quantification of a corpus of errors’(Ellis

1994:54). James (1998:105) identified a total of five levels for this particular taxonomy

although he had to admit that this particular division was mostly helpful when considering

grammatical errors but was lacking when discussing lexis, phonology and discourse:

- The level of language on which the error is located such as phonology or morphology

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- The category of the linguistic unit in which the error occurs

- The class of the error, for example adjective, noun, adverb, verb

- The rank of the error

- The grammatical system the error affects, namely tense, case or voice

Surface Structure Taxonomy

This taxonomy ‘highlights the ways surface structures are altered’(Dulay, Burt and Krashen

1982:150). The table below lists the four categories and examples of these:

Category Description Example Omissions The absence of an item that

must appear in a well-formed utterance.

She sleeping.

Additions The presence of an item that must not appear in well-formed utterances.

We didn’t went there.

Misinformations The use of the wrong form of the morpheme or structure.

The dog ated the chicken.

Misorderings The incorrect placement of a morpheme or group of morphemes in an utterance.

What daddy is doing?

Table 2 : Surface Structure Taxonomy

James (1998) added one more category to this table, namely that of blends, of which he

identified three types: deletion, addition or overinclusion and a standard blend. James pays

more attention to the intentions and mental processes of the acquirer in his explanation of

each type. Deletion is rooted in an acquirers inability to choose between several options and

therefore leaves the item out of the equation altogether. If he or she decides to include both

options in the sentence there is overinclusion. A standard blend then is when a learner takes

both forms and mixes them together.

As Ellis (1994:56) very keenly notices, these two taxonomies do not reveal anything about the

L2 acquisition process, though they do posses pedagogical applications. He moves on to

propose an alternative taxonomy based on Corder’s (1974) framework, which distinguishes

types of error according to their systematicity, which in turn brings us to a third taxonomy

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Classification based on the stage of error systematicity

Corder (1973a, 1974) distinguished three types of errors based on the stage of systematicity: a

pre-systematic stage, a systematic stage and a post-systematic stage. The first stage consists of

random errors which occur if a learner is unaware of a particular rule in the target language

concerning the language item at hand. The second stage involves errors which a learner makes

when he or she has become aware of a rule but fails to notice it is the wrong one. Post-

systematic errors then occur when a learner has internalized the correct rule but fails to apply

it correctly and consistently. It is clear that these three stages rely heavily on the researcher’s

contact with the subject. Not only is intense contact with the learner important, it is also

imperative that the subject is able to voice why he or she has opted for a certain L2 behaviour.

2.3.3.4 Explanation of errors

This stage of the EA process is considered to be the most important one by several linguists.

The researcher tries to establish the source of errors. Taylor(1986) has pointed out that there

are four possible sources of errors: psycho-linguistic, sociolinguistic, epistemic and discourse

structure. Errors which stem from a psycholinguistic source indicate that a learner has trouble

with L2 production as he or she experiences difficulties understanding the knowledge system

behind it. Sociolinguistic sources demonstrate the learner’s inability to adjust his or her

language to the social context whereas epistemic sources reveal lack of world knowledge.

Discourse sources indicate that a learner experiences difficulties organizing information in a

coherent text. Although Taylor has listed these four different sources, in reality EA research

has only focused on the psycholinguistic aspect. Richards(1971b) identified three causes of

psycholinguistic errors: interference errors, intralingual errors and developmental errors. The

first consists of errors that have been caused by the learner’s native language or mother

tongue i.e. the L1. Elements of the L1 are clearly visible or audible in the learner’s L2

production. Intralingual errors are errors that arise from defective rule management.

Generalization of rules, faulty application of them and failure to understand the conditions

under which these rules apply are within the province of intralingual errors. The third cause is

somewhat more elusive; Richards explains these as errors which ‘occur when the learner

attempts to build up hypotheses about the target language on the basis of limited experience’

(Richards 1971b, qtd in Ellis 2008:53). Most researchers experience trouble when

distinguishing between intralingual and developmental errors so by general agreement they

mostly operate with two categories, namely transfer errors and intralingual errors, the latter

consisting of the second and third causes that Richards had previously identified. Dulay and

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Burt(1974b) tried to solve the problem of identifying sources and set up their own

categorization of developmental, interference and unique errors. In this respect developmental

errors are those that are very similar to errors made in L1 acquisition, interference errors are

similar to the explanation given prior by Richards(1971b) and unique errors are errors which

do not belong to either category. Their categorization was not very popular with the other

researchers since it had been criticized for its inability to successfully create a reliable

classification of errors. Interference errors and intralingual errors have been further

subcategorized by Lott(1983) and Richards(1971) but this is not really relevant for this

dissertation.

Most of the empirical SLA research has tried to figure out exactly what the proportions are of

intralingual and transfer errors in a corpus. Ellis (2008:54) claims that this research ‘was

motivated by the need to test the competing claims of a behaviourist, habit-formation account

of L2 acquisition and a mentalist, creative-construction account’. Behaviourists believe that

errors are the result of the transfer of L1 habits, whereas the mentalist view supports the claim

that L2 errors would be similar to L1 errors seeing that learners create and elaborate upon an

L2 grammar as they progress. Nowadays most researchers believe that pitting these two

against each other was ‘simplistic and misleading’ and transfer is now ‘treated as a mental

process in its own right’(Ellis 2008:54).

The explanation of errors is highly subjective and that is one of the principal reasons why

there have been so many contradicting studies and results. In this study some explanations

will also be provided.

2.3.3.5 Evaluation of errors

The evaluation of errors is concerned with the assessment of the gravity of an error and the

properties of the people who assess them. Ellis (2008:56) adds that it also involves ‘a

consideration of the effect that that errors have on the people addressed. This effect can be

gauged either in terms of the addressee’s comprehension of the learner’s meaning or in terms

of the addressee’s affective response to the errors’. The number of error evaluation studies

rose quickly in the 70’s and 80’s due to a desire to improve language pedagogy. These studies

try to make decisions on who the judges will be, what kind of errors they have to judge and

how they should judge them. The judges are people who range on a continuum from native

speakers (NS) to non-native speakers (NNS) and who are further subdivided into expert or

non-expert categories, expert being for instance a language teacher or a linguist and non-

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expert being a native speaker that has been picked up from the street and asked to participate

as a judge. These people usually receive a number of decontextualized sentences in which one

or more errors can be found. The sentences are taken from research data most of the time but

sometimes they have been made up to fit the design of the research. The judges are then asked

to comment on the comprehensibility of the sentences, the seriousness or naturalness of the

errors or the degree of irritation the judges experience when faced with these kinds of

sentences. Researchers generally prefer NS as judges (for example Nickel 1973) since they

are seen as having more or less mastered the norm of the target language. They are the ones

who possess the most valuable intuitions regarding their own language and have a better

understanding of nuance and as Nickel (1973:27) points out, they have a better knowledge ‘of

the wide scope of its norms’. Although it is true that NS can contribute greatly to the

identification and evaluation of errors, a few comments need to be made. First of all some NS

may not be aware of the difficulty or relative ease of some target language structures and may

therefore make flawed evaluations. Secondly, not all NS are equally proficient in their own

language, it is very hard to find ‘ideal speakers’. James (1994:194) points out that

“NSs need other qualities (besides speaking it) to be teachers of their NL: they should know how the language is put together, know how to learn a foreign language themselves, and “have a sense of how learning occurs”.”

Error evaluation studies have occupied themselves with three main research questions: Are

some errors judged as being more problematic than others? Are there differences in judgment

between NS and NNS and finally, which criteria do the different judges use when evaluating

faulty sentences? The results from various studies indicate that there is indeed a difference in

the judgment of NS and NNS. The latter seem to be more strict (James 1977, Hughes and

Lascaratou 1982, Davies 1983, Sheorey 1986) and it was found that the reason for this is that

NS put greater emphasis on the comprehensibility of an utterance whereas NNS attach more

importance to the basic rules of a target language. NS sometimes seem to be more easily

content and impressed with the level of proficiency that a learner displays and this way they

may have a greater propensity for letting a few errors slip by.

It has been demonstrated that judges use different criteria in the assessment of error gravity

and Khalil(1985) has identified three of them: intelligibility, acceptability and irritation.

Intelligibility refers to the way in which sentences that contain errors are still comprehensible.

Acceptability is a highly subjective criterion which involves judgments of the seriousness of

an error and finally, irritation covers the emotional response to an error and also deals with the

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frequency of a particular error. James (1998:206-226) has put together a more exhaustive list

of criteria:

1) linguistic criteria: Rule infringement and rule generality

2) frequency: Production frequency, frequency of use by NS and error density

3) comprehensibility: intelligibility and communicativity

4) noticeability

5) irritation factor

These criteria will not be discussed in depth as they have simply been mentioned for matters

of completeness in this overview. I refer to the aforementioned work by James for further

information on the topic.

Several researchers (Johansson 1973, Enkvist 1973) have also rather unsuccessfully attempted

to create a scale for error evaluation. This enterprise was bound to fail since it is nearly

impossible to set up a scale for a large group of acquirers considering the fact that one would

need an impossible amount of variables. Furthermore, groups of acquirers are not the least bit

homogenous, most people have attained a different level of L2 competence and finally a scale

for error evaluation would disregard the differences in progress between weak and strong

learners, especially if the weak have improved substantially and the strong have improved just

a little.

Determining the gravity of an error is a highly subjective task. It is therefore not surprising

that different studies have produced different results. An error may be evaluated in different

ways based on the context of the error and the people who have to judge it. There is but one

general conclusion that can be drawn from all the studies and that is that teachers are advised

to be on the lookout for errors which interfere with communication and deal with them

carefully and properly.

2.3.4 Limitations and merits of error analysis

There are quite a few limitations to the studies of errors and EA in general. These will be

briefly discussed below based on Ellis (2008), Hammarberg (1973), Schachter (1974) and

Abbott (1980,1984).

1) EA is fundamentally flawed since it takes only one variety as its reference point

This has already been concisely touched upon in 1.3.3.2. It is not always clear what reference

group the learner will turn to. This may even be the non-standard variety. What is more is that

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a learner may be targeted for it. Another problem is that of the comparative fallacy. By always

comparing language varieties EA is guilty of ignoring the fact that acquirer language needs to

be considered a variety in its own right.

2) EA does not deliver a complete overview of a learner’s interlanguage

It does so by only focusing on what the learner is doing incorrectly, and not by taking into

account what he or she is doing properly. However, it is not EA itself which prohibits the

researcher from investigating the strong points of the population but rather the researchers

themselves who do not engage in said activity.

3) EA only offers a static view of L2 acquisition

EA has failed to engage in longitudinal studies. Therefore there are no real insights into the

development of L2 acquisition. Furthermore errors will always be more or less attributed the

same gravity even though they may appear at different levels of L2 proficiency. But as we

have mentioned before, this is not the fault of EA itself but rather a decision made by the

researchers.

4) EA does not take into account the various avoidance strategies that L2 learners often employ

Several studies (Kellerman 1977, Kleinmann 1978, Dagut and Laufer 1985 and Hulstijn and

Marchena 1989) have shown that learners resort to avoidance strategies if they experience

trouble with a particular language structure. Rather than making a mistake they try to go

around it.

5) EA lacks a homogenous methodology

The various ways and approaches to the identification, description, classification and

evaluation of errors impedes the research field from truly achieving any real results.

Hammarberg (1973:34) expresses his frustration by saying that ‘[w]hat is an error in one

approach, may be a different error, or no error at all, in another approach’. In order to have

some truly reliable results one would have to do an analysis of all the research on a certain

topic.

6) Many EA researchers are prejudiced

This criticism was very explicitly expressed by Abbott (1980, 1984). He claims that

researchers try to fit their research to a newly developed theory. The research would then

35

disregard all other results that spring forth from the data in order to have their theory proved.

They would not look for anything else but for evidence that their new theory is correct. He

also says that there is not enough commentary on the analytical processes with which the

researchers conduct their investigation.

In the following paragraphs the merits of EA will be discussed.

Practical contributions

As we have seen before, EA has been a powerful tool in the advancement of pedagogical

instruction since its very conception. This practical contribution has been one of its most

important feats. Almost every researcher in the field recognizes its value in providing

everyone involved in the teaching process with promising information. Together with CA, EA

is paramount in an effective preparation of teaching materials, as well as in bringing insight

into the level that acquirers have reached at a certain point in time. Svartvik (1973:13) has

distinguished six ways in which EA might improve the language teaching situation:

1) to set up a hierarchy of difficulties

2) to set out the teaching priorities at different levels

3) to make the principles of grading more objective

4) to improve teaching materials

5) to revise syllabi in a non-ad hoc manner

6) to design tests according to the different levels and objectives

Some researchers (like for example Tarantino 1984) have taken these proposals to somewhat

of an extreme, saying that teachers should engage in EA themselves in their classroom, or at

least be proficient enough in it to improve their own teaching.

Finally it needs to be said that EA has aided in removing false preconceptions that making

errors is a crime. As any good teacher knows, it is the errors that tell whether or not a student

still needs help and if so, with what part of the material he or she is struggling.

Theoretical contributions

Corder (1973a) has listed two major theoretical contributions that EA is responsible for. He

first claims that EA may be used as a sort of falsifier in both the fields of psycholinguistics

and descriptive linguistics. He also believes that these two are inseparable, and that they share

several topics of interest with EA. Transfer is one such topic.

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The second claim refers to the role EA may be able to play in the understanding of how

language acquisition develops. Corder is convinced that EA is an inherent part of this study.

Corder’s observations have been complemented by Nickel (1973), who added two more.

Nickel believed that EA could also contribute to the fields of historical linguistics and

psychology. The former was mentioned because he saw that particular errors ‘demonstrate[d]

historical stages within the development of certain languages’(Nickel 1973:25). The latter was

added because EA research showed that ‘in certain moods and on certain days the use of a

target language seems to be more difficult than on other occasions’(Nickel 1973:26).

The second part of this dissertation will present and discuss the results of the data and will

make an attempt at explaining several of the more surprising findings. The aims will be

repeated and the methodology will be outlined.

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3 Error analysis of essays by university students in Ghent

3.1 Motivation, aims and methodology

3.1.1 Motivation

I have always been fascinated by how English is being perceived by both Flemish and

Walloon students. To indulge in this fascination I had written my bachelor paper in which I

researched the attitudes of Flemish and Walloon students towards English in their last year of

high school. I also investigated how deep the students would allow the intrusion of English

words and sentences in their speech and writing. Generally speaking, it was found that the

Flemish pupils allowed a greater level of intrusion but also that there were very positive

attitudes towards English for both. For my master dissertation I wanted to do another

comparative study and professor Vandenberghen proposed I did something in the field of error

analysis. There had been quite a few dissertations who used this particular brand of research

(Sedeyn 1980, Cantraine 1985, Vander Vekens 1989, Thybaut 1993, Afschrift 1997, Moreels

2000, Van Eetvelde 2000 and Buysse 2001) but they were in several ways different from the

present study. The study by Moreels has also investigated the difference in English

proficiency between Flemish and Walloon students but it is fundamentally different from the

present dissertation as will be made clear below.

The first difference lies in the way of testing. Cantraine, Afschrift, Vander Vekens and

Thybaut used translation exercises or translation tests. Moreels made use of a miscellaneous

test which not only consisted of translation exercises but also of filling-in exercises. Van

Eetvelde on the other hand collected samples of free conversations in Dutch spoken by

English acquirers. Buysse was the first among them to have tried his hand at making use of

essays as a means of research material. In his dissertation he made an error analysis of essays

written by Dutch and Flemish university students of Leiden and Ghent.

A second difference pertains to the fact that most of the research has focused on one linguistic

category. All of the aforementioned authors, except for Vander Vekens, Moreels and Buysse,

have occupied themselves solely with either grammatical or lexical items. What is more is

that, apart from Buysse, all these authors have discarded lapses and mistakes as a valuable

source of information in error analysis. As has already been demonstrated in 1.3.3.2 lapses

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and mistakes are not to be disregarded in any successful endeavor in this field.

Furthermore, many of these studies were not very extensive. Cantraine for example only had

47 testees but Vander Vekens takes the cake with 44. Thybaut had 123 translation tests but

each test consisted of only ten sentences that required translation so it should come as no

surprise that there was not a high amount of errors in his dissertation. Afschrift (274 testees),

Moreels (92 test papers) and Buysse with a staggering 199 essays (although only 49 of these

came from Dutch students so in this respect his research is somewhat flawed) have been very

thorough in their research.

A final remark is that most of the research has focused on populations whose English has not

yet been influenced by the university. Only Buysse collected his samples from second year

students. The others either used secondary school pupils or leavers (Vander Vekens and

Moreels) or used data from first year students at the beginning of the year (Sedeyn) or after

the first semester (Cantraine).

Seeing how there had not been many extensive comparative studies which relied on an error

analysis of essays, I decided to dedicate myself to this enterprise and, following Buysse and

Moreels, do a comparative error analysis of essays of Flemish and Walloon first year

university students.

3.1.2 Presentation of the research question and aims

As has been stated before in the introductory part, this dissertation aims to investigate three

things. First of all I would like to find out which group makes the most mistakes against

English. English is conceived here as the Standard British variety as it is also the variety

which is being endorsed in universities on both sides of the language barrier in Belgium.

Second it is even more important to scrutinize these mistakes and see whether or not there are

different categories for both populations in which mistakes are made. It has been

hypothesized that the Flemish population is expected to make fewer mistakes due to the fact

that there is a lot more exposure to English in that part of Belgium. But this continuous

exposure to all varieties of English may lead to a deterioration in spelling and lexis because of

decrease in contextual awareness. English is a language with a lot of nuance and not all words

are equally acceptable in certain situations. The Walloon population on the other hand is

expected to perform less well in the field of grammar. French is perceived as having a

powerfully intrusive sentence structure which may interfere with the formation of English

39

sentences. This bring me to my final research question which investigates any explanations

there may be for differences in results. Why is it that the one group makes a lot of mistakes

against a particular linguistic category and the other group does not? Or: how come the two

groups each make so many or so little mistakes against a certain category?

To put it differently: who makes the most mistakes, where are these mistakes located and what

could be the explanation for these mistakes and the differences between the two populations?

3.1.3 Methodology

For the outline of this section I will use the steps that have been suggested by Corder. The

fifth step, the evaluation of errors, will not be part of this analysis as I have no desire or

pretence that I am proficient enough in setting up scales of evaluation, nor is such a practice

relevant in the current research.

3.1.3.1 Collection of a sample of acquirer language

For this cross-sectional study I have opted for first year students from the universities of

Ghent and Louvain-La-Neuve. The reason for picking first year students is that they have

received a full secondary school education. Furthermore, the essays that were collected were

part of either a linguistics course assignment (Ghent samples) or part of the English literature

exam (Louvain-La-Neuve). In other words, these essays should more or less reflect the level

of English of these students after a few months of exposure to English courses. Buysse (2001)

has stated in his dissertation that he preferred second year students to first year because at the

time writing skills were not taught until the second semester of the second year at Ghent. This

has certainly changed already as a lot of attention is being given to production skills during

the first two years of university. Louvain-La-Neuve is in this respect similar to Ghent as can

be read in the description of the Bachelor years:

Au terme du bachelier, l'étudiant :

• aura acquis des compétences productives et réceptives orales et écrites d'un niveau avancé supérieur (Niveau « B2+ » du Cadre européen de référence pour les langues) dans les deux langues étudiées;

• maîtrisera la grammaire des langues étudiées, ainsi que les bases de la linguistique de ces langues;

• aura acquis une compétence littéraire, tant au niveau de l’histoire de la littérature que l’analyse et l’interprétation de textes littéraires;

• maîtrisera les données culturelles et contemporaines des pays où les langues étudiées sont parlées;

40

• sera familiarisé à la réalisation de travaux scientifiques en linguistique et en littérature1.

At the end of their bachelor programme students are expected to have achieved near native-

like ability due to the attention that has been given to both oral and written skills.

Both groups of informants have studied English on an advanced level. They possess different

mother tongues. The Flemish group has Dutch as its native language whereas the Walloon

informants all have French as their mother tongue. All subjects have received instruction in

English in a classroom context.

The medium of the samples is the written essay. The Flemish essays have all been written in

the academic year 2007-2008 and the Walloon essays are from the year 2010-2011. The

discrepancy in time is due to the fact that at the time of collection 1) the linguistics professors

were somewhat hesitant to hand their essays over as they were unsure of the ethical issues that

may be raised and 2) the 2007-2008 corpus was already readily available for research and it

was claimed that this would not pose any difficulties to the present research. Every Walloon

and Flemish essay was marked and dealt with a topic related to the study of English.

There are however some differences between the two groups of samples. The Ghent data was

originally part of the continuous assessment of Ghent students. The Louvain data on the other

hand was part of the English literature exam. Another difference is that the minimum

requirement for the Ghent essays dictated that it had to be about 1000 words in length,

whereas the Louvain students had been asked to keep the word count under or close to 400.

This can of course be explained by the fact that the Flemish essays had to be written at home

and the Walloon students had to perform within a limited amount of time on the exam. There

is then a clear difference present in the amount of stress that each student may or may not

have experienced. Although both groups’ essays were meant to be corrected and graded, it

would seem fair to say that the Walloon informants were put under a lot more pressure.

All names and comments have been removed from all essays so as to guarantee complete

anonymity . There are 57 Flemish and 57 Walloon essays. Since all copies had to be treated

anonymously, further references to mistakes in an essay will be presented as follows: G1 or

L1. G and L of course stand for the respective cities of Ghent and Louvain-La-Neuve and the

numbers indicate the position of that essay in the pile.

1 http://www.uclouvain.be/prog-2010-lgerm1ba.html

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3.1.3.2 Identification of errors

All essays had been corrected before by the respective examinators, several of which are

native speakers. There were still however various errors left unchecked, but I suspect that

these have been overlooked due to a lack of time and the fact that professors need also take

into account the content of the essay. British English was taken as the norm but American

English was also acceptable if the author in question has remained consistent in the use of it.

I first corrected every essay myself, using my own intuitions and knowledge. Several

reference books were used in the process, the titles of which have been added to the

bibliography. To make sure that I had not overlooked anything or had been too severe, I asked

two native speakers living in my dorm to go over all these essays a second time. Several more

erroneous instances were found and others that had been wrongfully corrected were

vindicated. A final viewing of the essays was performed by me and two language teachers.

As I have said before, not only errors were taken into account but also lapses and mistakes

because I believe they prove invaluable to any error analysis. However, it needs to be pointed

out that there is a vague line between a lapse and a mistake and awarding such a label to an

erroneous instance is therefore a subjective matter.

3.1.3.3 Description of errors

I have opted for a mixed taxonomy of error description, as has been suggested by Ellis (1994)

and James (1998) and utilized by Buysse (2001). There are first of all four major linguistic

categories: spelling, grammar, vocabulary and style. The spelling section has been further

subdivided into a number of possible causes and explanations, as well as one segment on

lapses. I have considered a spelling error a lapse if the word in question had already been

written correctly several times before or after. As for the division in grammar and vocabulary

I saw it fit to describe several word classes. These word classes were then further subdivided

into the four categories of the Surface Structure Taxonomy as presented by Dulay, Burt and

Krashen (1982): omission, addition, misordering and misselection. I use the term misselection

instead of misinformation as I believe it makes the function more understandable. What is

more, most of the dissertations that have been browsed through also seem to employ this

term. There are of course, as one might expect, longer utterances which have several

erroneous instances in them. In this case I have tried to recreate the original meaning of the

sentences in a correct and plausible manner in order to categorize the errors in a justifiable

manner. I wish however to point out that this was a highly subjective undertaking and as such

some errors may have been attributed to certain categories rather than other.

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There are a great number of stylistic categories against which mistakes could be made. I have

listed eight of those as I viewed these as most common. There is much to be said about the

study of stylistic errors as they could provide an insight into the degree of genre awareness or

cultural conventions of a particular test subject. This would however constitute a dissertation

in its own right and will therefore not be discussed as thoroughly.

All the categories for both populations were inserted in a Word document. Each error

discovered in an essay has been meticulously noted down in this document under the

corresponding category. A complete overview of all errors can be found in the separate

addenda.

Although there are a considerable amount of categories, not all of them have been equally

‘successful’. Some categories remained without mistakes and others had only few. These will

only be briefly discussed as they are not of vital importance to the research proceedings.

It would be a terribly laborious and arduous work for the author (not to mention very tiring

and troublesome for the reader) to provide a complete overview of the errors, lapses and

mistakes in a certain category. I have therefore chosen to select either a few exemplary

instances or some very peculiar ones for each category. The errors can be exemplary in two

ways: either they have occurred with great frequency or they provide a very good example of

the category in question and as such are interesting to discuss.

As for presenting the erroneous instance, I will display them in the following fashion:

G(hent)(essay)1:erroneous instance/recommended correction

These recommended corrections are by no means authoritative and are a product of my

endeavor to provide plausible alternatives.

Each segment of a linguistic category will end with a short conclusion based on the results of

the quantitative research. At this stage I wish to point out that this dissertation was not

designed as an English proficiency contest between two language groups but as a study to

find out which group is more vulnerable and needs to receive more attention in the

educational process and which fields constitute the biggest problems for both Flemish and

Walloon L2 learners.

3.1.3.4 Explanation of the erroneous utterances

In this segment, which is for most researchers the most elaborate and most difficult part of an

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error analysis, I will attempt to find explanations for the occurrence of an error or multiple

errors. Some explanations will be easier than others, such as the addition of a reflexive

pronoun to a non-reflexive English verb in the case of a Louvain error, others will be quite

difficult, such as the explanation for the omission or addition of a hyphen in a compound. I

will attempt to explain these erroneous utterances using, among other things, the sources of

errors as discussed in 2.3.3.4 (Explanation of errors).

3.2 Spelling

3.2.1 Introduction

The aspect of spelling in the study of acquirer language or even error analysis as a whole has

been neglected for the most part. It has been put forward by some that orthography in itself

has not been developed naturally but rather has been codified as a completely conventional

construct. It is in this respect that I do include spelling in the present dissertation following

Buysse (2001), as it is something that needs to be learned through rigorous contact with the

L2 language. To acquire, understand and incorporate spelling rules a learner must have

abundant contact with a written form of the L2. Errors against spelling may also be a clear

indication of difficulties at the phonological level. English is a very difficult language when it

comes to mastering orthography. Writing words correctly has preciously little to do with

phonological correspondences. Think of for example the various ways in which the [i:] sound

can be represented: need, Caesar and peak. Every word needs to be considered carefully and

new words are subject to processes of analogizing and careful scrutiny. In more general terms,

the knowledge of the spelling of a word seems to rely more heavily upon remembrance than

the actual application of rules.

I have followed Buysse (2001) in his categorization of errors and lapses who in turn based his

distinction on Ibrahim’s (1978). Ibrahim classified errors ‘based on the assumed underlying

cause for the occurrence of the error, not on the nature of the error or what it involves’

(1977:208). I wish to point out that it is also possible that erroneous utterances can be

attributed to different sources. These alternative choices have all been taken into careful

consideration but for the sake of statistics each error has been allotted one source.

Finally, several lapses will also be briefly discussed.

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3.2.2 Compounds

The number of spelling errors and lapses totals 170 for the Ghent population and 183 for the

Louvain group. This is about 20% of the total number of errors for each group. In other

words, almost twenty percent of all errors that have been made are found in the domain of

spelling.

Compound words consist of two words adjoined by either a hyphen, a space or neither. There

are no clear rules on the formation of compounds though the function of hyphens and spaces

is to ‘help distinguish compounds from phrases’(Carney 1994:48). Swan (1995) has also dug

deeper into the formation of compounds and he has found some general tendencies in English

which can be used as guidelines in the formation of English. He also discovered that the stress

pattern plays an important role in the attribution of hyphens to compound words.

Furthermore, words also exist which can be written with either a hyphen, a space or with the

two elements joined together.

In the present analysis 20 instances have been found for the Ghent population in which errors

against compounds were made. There were only 10 for the Louvain group.

G56: widely-read/widely read G55: co-operated/cooperated G52: pre-occupations/preoccupations G46: ill-health/ill health G40: deep-rooted/deeply rooted G39: Rome-Catholic Church/Roman Catholic Church G35: box-office/box office G14: widely-known/widely known G10: multi-lingual/multilingual G10: mother-tongue/mother tongue G24: full-fledged/fully fledged G29: writing-talent/writing talent G39: fully-fledged/fully fledged

G48: can not/cannot

G35: cutout/cut-out G17: oneliners/one-liners

G2: youngman/young man G2:outloud/out loud G11:warbanner/war banner G21:middleclass/middle class

It is clear from these representative examples that the Ghent group more easily adds a hyphen

45

to compound words that do not require it, or even create compound words where there should

be none. Dutch native speakers are no strangers to the use of a hyphen. It is used for

compounds which have two elements of equal value, geographical names, elements which

have a capital letter, numbers and symbols, abbreviated forms and special determinants.

It is interesting to see how some students have put a hyphen between ‘co’ and a verb and

between ‘pre’ and a verb. This is of course wrong but there are some instances in which a

hyphen is used. According to Swan(1995:555) this is possible for the prefixes co, non and ex.

Shown below are the errors which the Louvain group has made.

L4: an other way/another way L6: can not/cannot L7: a mad man/a madman L12: some thing/something L47: mad man/madman

L18: eachother/each other L23: eachother/each other L56: policeofficers/police officers

L38: open-air/open air

L8: a tragic down-fall/a tragic downfall

As we can see these errors are a little more random than the Ghent group. The first 5 errors

though, do reveal that several students have some difficulties distinguishing between

compound constructions and those parts of speech that help to modify and shape a sentence.

L4 probably thought the ‘an’ to be an article, L6 treated the ‘can’ as a separate auxiliary, L7

and L47 applied the rules for adjectives and L12 seemed to think some was an indefinite

pronoun and not part of the word ‘something’.

Another explanation for the irregularity of the errors could be that the hyphen in French is

almost solely used with a number of fixed prefixes and modifiers or with a geographical,

linguistic or ethnological indication. This specificity and diminished familiarity with this

particular punctuation mark may be one of the causes for the randomness in the errors.

The fact that so little errors have been found against compound nouns in the Louvain essays

may also be attributed to the avoidance strategies that students could have employed. Their

essays were after all part of their exam and as such they might have looked for words and

phrases that they would be able to write correctly and not venture off into the unknown which

46

may potentially have cost them marks. The Ghent essays on the other hand were part of an

overall assessment during the semester, for which they received plenty of time to prepare at

home. Seeing that a great emphasis is placed on the scientific and linguistic aspect of the

assignment the students must have put in some extra effort to come across more erudite and

elaborate whereas the Louvain group could very well have put more stress on structure and

content.

3.2.3 Punctuation

Punctuation is a device which allows the author of a text to indicate which parts of the

sentence belong together, where the focus of a sentence lies and to implement cohesion in a

text. It is also used to show intonation patterns which makes it easier for a reader to have a

better understanding of a text. There are some rules in punctuation but most of the time it is

up to the reader to figure out whether the flow of a sentence is disturbing or not.

3.2.3.1 Omission

28 errors have been found in the Ghent corpus where punctuation marks had been omitted.

Some of these errors could have been labeled lapses but there was either sufficient proof of

the contrary or the error was too blatant. This is also the case for the 8 errors in the Louvain

corpus. The first set below shows how commas have been omitted from a sentence. G2 is a

non-restrictive apposition. It consists of a noun phrase which functions as a postmodifier and

which provides additional but not crucial information about the subject. Appositions are

generally preceded and followed by a comma. G8, 16 and 29 require one as they are

interruptions of the natural flow of the sentence. G18 and G24 are dependent clauses and as a

result, they too have to be followed by a comma.G1 consists of a main clause and a sentential

relative clause which also demands the use of a comma before the relative pronoun.

G1: had a hard time being recognized which resulted/had a hard time being recognized, which resulted G2: As all dandies he liked/As all dandies, he liked G8: almost completed not in the least due to/almost completed, not in the least due to G16: Actually football is only/Actually, football is only G18: in the following some topics/in the following, some topics G24: In the early days people lived/In the early days, people lived G29: Again this was her way to/Again, this was her way to

The second set of errors shows the omission of apostrophes and quotation marks. The teachers

who had corrected the essays did not seem to mind that the two were being used

interchangeably so as a result I did not make a distinction either. Apostrophes are usually used

47

in the indication of the possessive (G23, G24) or in contractions, whereas quotation marks by

their nature indicate a quote (G4, G16, G24). They also surround the titles of short works of

art such as songs or poems. Longer works such as novels are either italicized or put between

apostrophes(G17, G19).

G4: manipulative bitch/manipulative ‘bitch’ G16: Old Firm is the mocking appellation/’Old Firm’ is the mocking appellation G17: wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray/wrote ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ G19: In Great Expectations/In ‘Great Expectations’ G23: Edward Saïds broader applicable historical framework/ Edward Saïd’s broader applicable historical framework G24: Henry Wylds book/Henry Wyld’s book G24: Use it of lose it/’Use it of lose it’

The third set lists the erroneous instances in which a period or full stop has been left out. In

G39 and G48 the rule is breached which states that there should be a period at the end of a

sentence. A sentence has usually ended when a statement is complete. In G20 the obligatory

period after an abbreviation has been omitted. There were not enough indications that these

could have been lapses although it may be possible to classify them as such.

G20: Mrs Kennedy/Mrs. Kennedy G39: Edward got on the throne because he was only nine years old he had the help of/Edward got on the throne. Because he was only nine years old he had the help of G48: a.k.a his ‘Vanessa’ Stella was the daughter/a.k.a. his ‘Vanessa’. Stella was the daughter

The three following errors could have been avoided, as these were found in essays which had

been written on a computer. Word underlines these errors and one is subsequently spurred to

correct them but these three students have neglected to do so.

G11: true.Bryn/true. Bryn G41: However,it/However, it G42: century,French/century, French

As mentioned before, the Louvain corpus had a considerably less amount of errors in which

punctuation marks have been omitted. The sources for these erroneous instances coincide with

those previously mentioned for the Ghent corpus and as such these will not be repeated again.

There is one difference however, and this can be found in the use (or more specifically the

omission) of hyphens. L1 has failed to apply the rule that capitalized single letters in a

composition should be accompanied by a hyphen. A prefix like ‘non’ may or may not take a

hyphen but L38 should have used one to avoid mispronunciation, of which there is danger

here and finally, L49 was correct in hyphenating eighty-four, as it is the rule that all numbers

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ranging from twenty-one to ninety-nine need one, but the student neglected to insert a hyphen

between four, year and old. This is a violation against the rule which says that hyphens are

used to connect numbers and words in the formation of adjectival phrases.

L1: an I narrator/an I-narrator L38: his non linear/ his non-linear L49: eighty-four years old man/ eighty-four-years-old man

L1: the natives representation/the native’s representation L17: Conrads biography/ Conrad’s biography L46: Joyces book/Joyce’s book

L38: Godot without coming betray Vladimir and Estragon/Godot, without coming, betray Vladimir and Estragon

L44: reversal of the chronological time we go backward and when/ reversal of the chronological time. We go backward and when

3.2.3.2 Addition

24 instances have been found in the Ghent corpus in which students had added punctuation

marks. The Louvain essays on the other hand only had 9 erroneous instances. As far as

addition is concerned, although there are rules and guidelines to prevent incorrectness, it

should be the author’s choice whether or not to utilize these rules. Some errors are completely

ungrammatical, such as in G6 and G28 in which a comma has been added before a restrictive

relative clause, others veer more to being a matter of opinion like for example G7.

An error that is typical for native speakers of Dutch is the insertion of a comma between the

subject and the predicator of a clause, as can be witnessed in G29 and G31. In G25 a comma

has been added before an adverbial clause. Buysse (2001: 77) believes the cause of this could

be that the students see these clauses ‘as some sort of afterthought’. In G28 the comma has

been added after the adverbial clause.

G7 is a more difficult error. Normally speaking, a comma before ‘and’ is not acceptable in

British English. It is called a serial comma, also known as the Oxford or Harvard comma. It is

standard usage in American English but as this dissertation is mainly concerned with

deviations from the British standard (unless the entire essay in question is consistent in its use

of American English) a serial comma is considered an error, especially since the author of the

G7 essay has not been consistent throughout his or her writing. Not all errors have been added

to this segment, only those that were the most obvious.

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G6: shun their own children, who choose/shun their own children who choose G7: even though your life is hard, and you encounter/even though your life is hard and you encounter G25: in America, because of/in America because of G28: Almost everywhere in the world, forests are cleared, lakes drained/Almost everywhere in the world forests are cleared, lakes drained G28: Currently there are over 3, 5 million, who pay about £20 a year/ Currently there are over 3, 5 million who pay about £20 a year G29: An interesting topic revealing her opinion on society, is the fact that/An interesting topic revealing her opinion on society is the fact that G29: Even though during this time, being a spinster woman meant/Even though during this time being a spinster woman meant G31: the kingdom of Sicily, had also done/the kingdom of Sicily had also done G31: British influence in Malta, is recognizable in everyday life/British influence in Malta is recognizable in everyday life

G10 and G11 may very well be described as lapses since only two of these instances have

been found but these were considered as errors for the same reason that has been mentioned

before, namely that these errors were made in typed essays and have therefore been subject to

spelling advice from a word editor. Since these students failed to comply I therefore saw it fit

to label them as errors.

G10: invasion , building/invasion, building G11: fifth- century/fifth-century

Although most students seem to grasp the use of the hyphen in singular compositions with

numeral references, they do tend to break down if these compositions are extended. There was

one student who perpetuated the use of hyphen. The rule states that compound adjectives that

modify a noun should be hyphenated but not the noun that they modify.

G29: eighteenth-century-society/eighteenth-century society

There was one student in the Ghent corpus who did not recognize the difference between the

possessive ‘its’ and the contracted form of ‘it is’ and who consequently added an apostrophe.

G45: It’s frame narrative/Its frame narrative

The next three students of Louvain-La-Neuve inserted a colon in their sentences. Colons are

usually added when a list of items is about to be given. They can also be used to connect two

sentences but only when the second sentence explains or illustrates the first one and there is

no coordinating conjunction present. L30 and L56 may have been thinking about this rule but

instead of a sentence they added a restrictive appositive which is not to be separated from its

noun by commas or colons. L12 may just have wanted to indicate a change in intonation by

50

inserting a punctuation mark but this is speculative.

L12: but in both cases: our rhythm of reading/but in both cases our rhythm of reading L30: taken from Shakespeare’s famous play: Romeo and Juliet/taken from Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet L56: beginning of the short story: Tell-Tale-Heart/beginning of the short story Tell-Tale-Heart

The last four erroneous instances have come about because the students seemed unable to

recreate the natural sentence flow. There is no interruption in intonation pattern and as such

they mistakenly inserted a comma. It is however possible that these students wished to stress

those particular elements of the sentence but as they were unavailable to explain this remains

a presupposition.

L20: during the scene with the nurse, the reader knows more than the characters/ during the scene with the nurse the reader knows more than the characters L37: could be related to the first extract because of the tragedy genre, although this one is a tragic comedy/ could be related to the first extract because of the tragedy genre although this one is a tragic comedy L47: In this short story, there are/In this short story there are L56: In this extract, the reader is addressed/In this extract the reader is addressed

3.2.3.3 Misselection

Next to omission and addition, misselection of punctuation also occurred in both corpora.

Given below are several different instances in which the wrong punctuation has been used.

These errors violate almost of the rules that have been dealt with above. The first three insert

a semicolon where a colon was necessary for both citations and a listing of items.

G1: noticed; ‘until recently[…]’/noticed: ‘until recently[…] G1: real identities;/real identities: G56: many experiences; war, politics or economics/many experiences: war, politics or economics

There were five instances in which a period had been substituted for a comma. As mentioned

before, periods indicate that a statement has ended. These students did not follow that rule.

G12 on the other hand realized that the statement had ended but used a semicolon instead of a

period. A special case is G28, who failed to distinguish between the Dutch and the English

notation system for large numbers.

G4:from the female press, they feel like/from the female press. They feel like G9: and one brother, Louis Montant Miller, Agatha was/and one brother, Louis Montant Miller. Agatha was G28: 3, 5 million/3.5 million

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G35: each series is set in a different era, all follows/each series is set in a different era. All follows G39: He was officially the first protestant king, Edward ruled/He was officially the first protestant king. Edward ruled G51: The less religious reader[…]tends to leave Milton to the academics, nevertheless/ The less religious reader[…]tends to leave Milton to the academics. Nevertheless

G12: Malaysia and Burma; Once again,/Malaysia and Burma. Once again,

Not only periods are substituted for commas, the opposite is also true as shown in the

following three examples:

G35: dares to laugh at British society. Knowing that ultimately/dares to laugh at British society, knowing that ultimately G46: life of popularity and fame. Because even in her days her books were very popular/ of popularity and fame, because even in her days her books were very popular G46: and afterwards never got married. And therefore/and afterwards never got married, and therefore

A special kind of punctualization errors are those related to capitalization. Seven students

experienced difficulties to a certain degree regarding the use of capital letters. Geographical

locations, proper nouns, historical periods, historically important official documents, names of

months, and so on all take a capital letter. The rules more or less coincide with the Dutch

capitalization system, except in this case for months and historical periods. A small detail

concerning historical periods needs to be mentioned: these can be written with a capital letter

in highly specialized texts. The final three instances disregarded the rule that words are not

written with a capital letter after a colon, unless they should be (for example proper nouns or

titles).

G4:Carlos baker/Carlos Baker G4: A farewell to Arms/a Farewell to Arms G11: the british people/the British people G12: the British empire/the British Empire G31:august/August G42: middle ages/Middle Ages G45: middle ages/Middle Ages G54: act of supremacy/Act of Supremacy

G24: twofold: Dialects/twofold: dialects G24: as mentioned before: First/as mentioned before: first G40: evil place: One/evil place: one

What is noticeable in the Louvain corpus is that a substantial amount of punctuation

misselection errors occurs against capitalization. French does not use capitalized letters for

languages and for geographical derivations and adjectives. This has become very apparent in

52

the results of the error analysis.

L3: african languages/African languages L4: african words/African words L4: english/English L5: in things fall apart/in Things Fall Apart L6: african people/African people L15: Things fall apart/Things Fall Apart L18: english/English L25: The renaissance period/the Renaissance period L28: english/English L29: elisabethan times/Elizabethan times L29: beckett/Beckett L29: “waiting for godot”/”Waiting for Godot” L29: emma’s rebellion/Emma’s rebellion L52: “the tell-tale heart”/” the Tell-Tale Heart” L52: an american author/an American author L52: a british novel/a British novel

Capitalization is sometimes used to indicate the importance of a certain item. It is possible

that the three students below thought the same about these nouns.

L12: Irony/irony L19: which appears in the History/ which appears in the history L24: The genre it belongs to is Drama/ The genre it belongs to is drama Finally, three instances were found in which a period has been replaced with a comma:

L27: the main caracteristics of the tragedy, other characteristics/ the main caracteristics of the tragedy. Other characteristics L43: Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, at the end, the two main characters die/ Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. At the end, the two main characters die L37: go through; But love will always be/go through. But love will always be

3.2.4 Errors caused by the non-phonetic nature of English

Orthography, or spelling, is an element of the English language which has long remained in

the periphery of linguistic research. It was more or less standardized in Britain in the

seventeenth century but since then it has not undergone many substantial changes. This means

that it has not evolved along with pronunciation. In other words, as Buysse (2001:79) puts it,

‘the English spelling system is far more historical than it is phonetic’. This means that both

native and non-native speakers cannot rely too much on their pronunciation as a means to

discover what the correct spelling of a word is, they have to find their way in a maze of

seemingly irregular rules which are rooted in history.

After the Norman conquest in 1066 the French nobility took control in England. French was

53

imposed as the official language whereas English was demoted to being the language of the

mob. Some members of the clergy however remained true and continued copying books in

English. England and the English reestablished themselves around 1350 after a series of wars

with the French, but English had been influenced by French to such an extent that writing had

to be reinvented, along with a consistent spelling system. This was not an easy task, as many

in the publishing community in the 15th century were of foreign origin and consequently were

not too familiar with English altogether. Furthermore they were paid by the lines they

produced so it is known that on multiple occasions extra letters had been added, eventually

making it into the standardization process. In the 16th and 17th century there was a large influx

of Latin and Greek words, which set the process of establishing a unified spelling back a few

decades and needlessly complicated it. It was not until the 18th century that Samuel Johnson

codified the spelling of words in his dictionary. As a result of all these changes and influences

people now rather –or need to- turn to a dictionary than their own common sense to be sure of

the spelling of a word.

Three such difficulties will be addressed: letters that are written but not pronounced, errors

caused by different spellings of certain sounds and the issue of homophony

3.2.4.1 Letters written but not pronounced

English has a fascinating way of inserting letters that do not seem to add to pronunciation as a

whole. It would seem like the only way to be proficient at spelling is to familiarize yourself

with as many words as possible. 2 instances were located in the Ghent corpus where students

most likely relied upon their instincts and phonological judgment because they did not know a

word well enough. The students of the G24 and G35 essays were probably aware of the fact

that the final <–e> is often silent in speech and they therefore made an error.

G24: Unfortunatly/Unfortunately G35: wheras/whereas

In the Louvain corpus a different picture is presented. 15 different students with 19 errors

struggled with the issue at hand. The bulk of these errors is located in the doubling of

consonants. Perhaps pronunciation has something to do with it. A common mistake with

native speakers of French is that, when they speak English, they sometimes tend to lengthen

the vowels. This would give the speaker the wrong impression that a consonant does not need

doubling. What is more, is that French is a Romanic language and not a Germanic one. This

can result in wrong stress patterns when pronouncing English words and it could also be one

54

of the factors responsible for incorrect spelling.

L6: interupts/interrupts L9: writen/written L13: realy/really L17: comits/commits L18: comiting/committing L23: commited/committed L31: we can make a parralels/ we can make a parallels L35: clas/class L37: comon/common L54:planed/planned

The omission of the <-h> may also very well be related to pronunciation. ‘You don’t have to

write what you cannot hear’. Sometimes it is also easier to fall back on what one knows from

one’s own language, which might explain why L17 and L34 did not insert the <-h>

(caractère).

L7: wich/which L17: caracters/characters L27: caracters/characters L34: wich/which L43: althoug/although L57: hose/whose

L22 is different in the sense that the students has over-anglicized the word. He or she

probably did not want to be punished for writing something in French on the exam and as a

result left out the sounds that looked foreign and were not even pronounced.

L22:dialogs/dialogues

The final two erroneous instances show that the silent <-e> has been omitted. The students are

aware of the correct pronunciation of the words but were unable to recall the correct spelling

of them.

L37: noticable/noticeable L50: suspens/suspense

3.2.4.2 Sounds with more than one representation in writing

What should be clear is that English orthography is extremely difficult, especially when there

are virtually hundred of options to choose from for one sound. The students from both

Louvain and Ghent however, did not seem to have too many problems with this. 16 erroneous

instances were located in the Ghent corpus and 15 in the Louvain essays. These will be

55

discussed per sound below.

The /ʃ/-sound can be written with the graphemes <ci>, <sci>, <ti>, <si>, <sh>,<ch>, <ssi>

and <sch> (Carney 1994:240-243). There may be analogy involved with other (known)

English words such as ‘appreciate’ or ‘delicious’, words that are more common and are

therefore more likely to be absorbed and retained in the brain. G49 and G57 may have been

influenced by computer talk in which it is customary to abbreviate sentences, words and even

sounds to the most extreme extent.

‘-x’ does provide the required phoneme but it is not an accepted grapheme, at least not for this

sound.

G4: differenciate/differentiate G24: nutricious/nutritious G49: reflexion/reflection G57: reflexion/reflection

The /ɔː/-sound can be represented by more than 10 different graphemes, among which are

<a>, <al>, <au>, <aw>, <augh>, <ough>,<or>, <oar>, <ore> and so on (Carney 1994:184-

185). The G11 student was mistaken in selecting a wrong grapheme but in this respect G46

made a more grave error as he or she selected a grapheme that does not even belong to this

category.

G11: braught/brought G46: resourt/resort

<s>, <ss>, <c>, <sc>, <se> and <ce> are all different ways to indicate the /s/-sound (Carney

1994: 232-238). Two errors were found with respect to that particular sound.

G24: consequenses/consequences G41: offence/offense

/ju:/ can be written with graphemes such as <u>, <u…e>, <ew>, <ue>, <eu>, <ui>, <eau>

and so on (Carney 1994:200-202). There was only one student who made an error against this.

G52: geniusly/geniously

The final error of the Ghent corpus regarding sounds with more than one representation in

writing was made against the /ə/-sound. This sound can be denoted by a wide variety of

graphemes. No other phoneme has the same range of possibilities.

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G53: dependant/dependent

As I have already gone over most of the errors and indicated several of the possible

graphemes for a phoneme, I will not discuss all of these again for the Louvain corpus for the

same erroneous instances. I will only briefly touch upon those phonemes which have not been

dealt with.

L13: It’s more a reflexion that an answer/ It’s more a reflection that an answer L28: connexions/connections L28: connextions/connections

L38: suspence/suspense

L47: narrater/narrator L56: appearences/appearances

The /I/ sound also has a great number of graphemes which can be used to present the sound.

Carney (1994:135-141) lists most, if not all, of them: <i>, <y>, <e>, <a…e>, <ee>, <ie>,

<o>, <u> and several more. It is surprising that only one error has been found against this

phoneme, as it could be considered one of the major problem areas in pronunciation.

Substitution with the /i:/ phoneme is known to occur with people who have French as their

native language.

L22: phylosophical/philosophical

Finally, the /i:/-sound can be represented by <e>, <ee>, <e…e>, <ea>, <ie>, <i>, <i…e> and

others (Carney 1994:155-164). Only one error has been found against this phoneme.

L36: beeing/being

3.2.4.3 Homophony

Homophones are words that are pronounced in exactly the same way but have a different

orthography. The topic of homophony is usually addressed in high school and as such most

students are able to distinguish the difference between them. That is perhaps why not a lot of

these errors have been found in both corpora. There were only 8 in the Ghent essays and a

mere 3 in the Louvain essays. The errors are given below. One thing however is remarkable:

the errors in the Louvain corpus may be considered more basic than those found in the Ghent

corpus.

G16: Northern-Island/Northern-Ireland G25: to proof/to prove

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G25: which proofs/which proves G48: does this proof/does this prove G55: thrown/throne

L2: Their are unnamed/They are unnamed L18: there acts/their acts L30: presents to men who/presents two men who

3.2.5 Errors caused by the differences between the sound systems of source language and target language

All languages have to a greater or lesser extent differences in their sound system. These

differences are likely to influence the pronunciation of certain words, phonemes or even

sentences in a language other than one’s mother tongue. As has been remarked before, this

pronunciation can have an influence on spelling as well. Buysse (2001:91) for example

mentions the fortis/lenis contrast, which means that in Dutch final voiced English consonants

are devoiced. The /θ/ and /ð/ sounds are also a difficult feature, as well as mispronunciation of

vowel sounds in minimal pairs, like for instance sit-seat, not-nut and so on. This is also one of

the most common problems for French native speakers. Another is that they tend to omit the

/h/-sound at the beginning of words, or at the other end, they sometimes overcompensate by

pronouncing the /h/ in words that do not require it such as hour or heir. A final major problem

for French learners of English is that they sometimes experience difficulties with the irregular

stress pattern of English, especially for cognates.

No errors were found in the Ghent corpus but there were two in the Louvain corpus. L21

appears to be a form of overcompensation. The student may have doubted the final –t, as it is

a common feature in French, and as a result opted for a –d to comply with English standards.

The second one is subject to debate, as it could also have been placed in the category of

sounds with more than one representation in writing. I have classified it into this category

because it seemed more of a pronunciation error than a misselection of a grapheme due to

difficult spelling.

L21: pregnand/pregnant L33: deasaster/disaster

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3.2.6 Analogy

3.2.6.1 Phonetic analogy

This category is somewhat special. Phonetic analogy refers to graphemes which, when

pronounced, sound the same. As a result, Buysse (2001) does not treat this as a separate

category but rather incorporates this as part of the section on sounds that have multiple

representations. I choose to treat it differently since the phonemes involved may sound alike

to a NNS, but in proper pronunciation they are not. 6 of these erroneous instances were found

in the Ghent corpus and 7 in the Louvain essays. It is interesting to note how the Ghent

students attempted to fill the void in their orthographic knowledge with phonetic equivalents

they suspect to be close to the real phoneme (and grapheme), whereas the Louvain students

either turned to their own language (L38), to Dutch (L32, L35, L48) or to known English

words (L17,L56).

G2: necassary/necessary G26:dept/debt G26: devided/divided G26: devided in two/devided into G38:dual/duel G46: ambiguas/ambiguous

L17: Guynea/Guinea L32: titel/title L35: middel/middle L38: rimes/rhymes L48:dubbel/double L56: narrathor/narrator L56: buildingsroman/bildungsroman

3.2.6.2 Orthographic analogy

Orthographic analogy is at play when students believe that two words are similar in spelling

while in fact they have different realizations in both phonetics and orthography. The Louvain

corpus revealed no such errors but 5 of these instances have been located in the Ghent corpus.

All the erroneous words are perfectly good English words but they do not fit the context. It

would appear that the students wanted to go off the beaten track and use words they were not

quite familiar with. They were probably aware of both sets of words but failed to distinguish

the differences in use and meaning.

G28:outmost/utmost G35: found of/fond of G43:cheer nonsense/sheer nonsense

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G51: conviction because of treasury/conviction because of treachery G53: they lounged to lead the life of an artist/they longed to lead the life of an artist

3.2.6.3 Overgeneralization of a spelling rule

Students in their interlanguage have or are developing, to a certain extent, knowledge of rules

of grammar, spelling, pronunciation and so on of the target language. When they have

acquired a rule and use it correctly but sometimes apply it to contexts which do not require the

application of said rule, students are overgeneralizing. In the Ghent corpus three such

instances were found and the Louvain essays only had 5 as well. Except for L51, all instances

have to do with rules concerning plurals. G38, G55, L1, L6, L12 and L44 most likely knew

about the irregularities in the formation of plurals regarding words that end in –f . These

plurals usually but not always end in –ves, like thief-thieves. However, ‘belief’ is an exception

in that it does not follow such a rule. G38 on the other hand probably thought that ‘wolf’ has a

regular formation of the plural and added –s, which is the rule for normal nouns.

L51 applied the rules for the stages of comparison to ‘far’. These three stages are the positive,

the comparative and the superlative. When the general rules for each stage are applied to for

example a regular noun like strong, we get strong-stronger-strongest. The rules are thus:

adjective - adjective + er – adjective + est.

G38: wolfs/wolves G38: believes/beliefs G55: believes/beliefs

L1: believes/beliefs L6:believes/beliefs L12: believes/beliefs L44: believes/beliefs L51: three lines farer he is calm/three lines further he is calm

3.2.7 Errors that may be attributed to the relatively inconsistent and arbitrary nature of English word derivation

Derivation is the process of creating a new word on the basis of an existing word such as

like/likely/likelihood. Derivation should not be confused with inflection, which uses certain

affixes to form grammatical variations of a word. An example of the latter is

frighten/frightens/frightening/frightened. Derivations in English are to some extent random

although there are certain rules and guidelines which are not always clear to the NNS. Below

are a number of instances for which no other explanation could be found, other than that the

students were confused about the correct derivation. There was one such instance in the Ghent

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essays and there were 5 in the Louvain corpus. The students could have either made an

analogy with words that they were familiar with or that have referential likenesses or they

may have selected the wrong stem to build on.

G56: acceptation/acceptance

L6: intrusers/intruders L7:Christianism/Christianity L25: the silents and pauses/the silences and pauses L31: differencies/differences L31: similities/similarities

3.2.8 Interference errors

3.2.8.1 Interference from the mother tongue

When learning a new language it is natural for a NNS to sometimes have interference from

his or her mother tongue. That is why most linguists call his or her language interlanguage,

because that person has not yet fully mastered the target language and perhaps never will.

Interference happens when the source language seeps through in both the spoken and/or

written target language. This section was most interesting to research because 13 instances of

interference were found in the Ghent corpus and 53 in the Louvain essays. This is a

significant difference between the French and the Dutch native speakers. Not all erroneous

instances are presented here but a complete list of errors can be found in the addendum. In

this section I have added the respective Dutch and French equivalents in between brackets to

provide a complete overview. It is intriguing to find that for both populations the majority of

the errors are located in the area of nouns. Both groups make attempts at anglicizing the

words to some extent but fail to use the correct spelling.

G11: tirans/tyrants (tiran) G12: their moral was given a vast blow/their morale was given a vast blow (moreel) G17: Every Brit he met there/Every Briton he met there (Brit) G38: Thebe/Thebes (Thebe) G41:pond/pound (pond) G41:diamante-studded/diamond-studded (diamant) G43: rimes/rhymes (rijm) G43: metamorphose/metamorphosis (metamorfose) G45:theme’s vary/themes vary (thema’s) G48:misanthrope/misanthropist (misantroop) G55 the conspiracies to take her life: the ‘Complot of Babington’/ the conspiracies to take her life: the ‘Plot of Babington’ (complot)

G24:normaly/normally (normaal)

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G31: Britisch/British (Brits- but a lot of adjectives in Dutch end in –isch)

L1: personnal/personal (personnel) L2: plat characters/flat characters (plat) L22: Greec plays/Greek plays (Grec/Grecque) L24: feodal period/feudal period (feodale)

L5: maneer/manner (manière) L6: habitants/inhabitants (habitants) L7: ennemies/enemies (ennemies) L12: dictionnary/dictionary (dictionnaire) L17: missionaire/missionary (missionaire) L19: the different stades of a love relationship/the different stages of a love relationship (stades) L28: langage/language (langage) L29: ressemblance/resemblance (ressemblance) L30: rivality/rivalry (rivalité) L30: linguage/language (lingue) L32: essai/essay (essai) L32: tragiecomedie/tragic comedy (tragi-comédie)

L6: deshumanize/dehumanize (déshumaniser) L6: renforced/reinforced (renforcé) L8: mentionned/mentioned (mentionné) L21: confronte the betrayal/confront the betrayal (confronte) L31: developped/developed (développé) L32: restaured/restored (restauré)

L13: finaly/finally (finalement)

3.2.8.2 Interference from other languages

Beside interference from the mother tongue there can also be interference from another

language. This language is usually the L2 of person. In Belgium there are three national

languages: French, Dutch and German. Students from both sides of the language border who

study modern languages in secondary school are to a certain degree required to take courses

on these languages, as a result of which they have knowledge, be it basic or profound, of other

languages other than their own mother tongue. G23, G35, and G39 have been influenced by

French in the spelling of those words. Although two of the errors are indeed names of

historical figures, the way they are spelled reveals the French origin of them. Habitants in G23

is a proper French word. The student may have been familiar with the word ‘habit’ in English

but not with ‘to inhabit’. G38 ‘anyways’ is very informal and it is not considered to be

standard usage. ‘Anyway’ on the other hand is. The form of the word with an –s is more

accepted in American English and in colloquial contexts.

G23: habitants/inhabitants

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G35: entrangled/entangled G38: anyways/anyway G39: Henri/Henry G39:Elisabeth/Elizabeth

There were 6 instances in the Louvain corpus that showed interference from other languages.

L32, L52 and L56 were clearly influenced by Dutch, whereas L24 seems to have added an –s

to the demonstrative pronoun ‘these’ which makes it sound very German (dieses). Of course

one could argue that this was either a lapse or a grammatical error in which he or she aimed

for concordance between adjective and noun, but no other instances were found of such an

error. The student in question had not made many mistakes in his or her essay at all. This

would also support the theory of a lapse but as I have mentioned before in this dissertation,

this field of research can sometimes be subjective.

L24: theses plays/these plays L32: hero’s/heroes L32: the orde is/the order L32: friendschip/friendship L52: prosa/prose L56: prosa/prose

3.2.9 Lapses

Lapses are temporary slips of the pen. There are several criteria which have been used to

establish whether or not an erroneous instance could be considered an error or a lapse. The

criteria for a lapse are:

- The word has been misspelled on one occasion, all of the other times it has been

spelled correctly

- The overall level of English and the number of erroneous instances in the essay

- It is obvious that the word in question is due to inattention

These three criteria ensured that every erroneous instance was subject to careful investigation.

23 lapses were found in the Ghent corpus, whereas only 13 of them were lifted from the

Louvain essays. These lapses mostly only amount to the omission or addition of one letter.

Some lapses involve the use of the mother tongue (G24, G54), others are simply repetitions of

words due to inattention (G48, L12).

G2: decandence/decadence G9:Agatha was the youngest of the/Agatha was the youngest of them G12: their role in word politics/their role in world politics G22: in order to take prisoneres/in order to take prisoners

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G22:The march prooved to be unstoppable/The march proved to be unstoppable G24:prejuidice/prejudice G24:communiction/communication G24:Use it of lose it/Use it or lose it G24: presservation/preservation G27: that cause to stuttering/that cause the stuttering G31:Mdina/Medina G31:open to ships of allnations/open to ships of all nations G35: illustratiors/illustrators G35: box-ofice/box-office G35: the Simpsones/the Simpsons G35: we fine many examples/we find many examples G48: he does not want to be to be/he does not want to be G48:Guilliver/Gulliver G49:Euthansia/Euthanasia G51: Milton his influence on latter writers/Milton his influence on later writers G52: skech/sketch G54: Catherine van Aragon/Catherine of Aragon G57: Euthansia/Euthanasia

L4: she is half English and hal Guyanese L6: Chico is the unknow narrator L11: between 1900 an 1950/between 1900 and 1950 L12: in the the story/in the story L13: it’s better so be direct/it’s better to be direct L14: Marlow is telling is story/Marlow is telling his story L16: who came to colonialized them/who came to colonialize them L26: Pauses and silence and central in this/Pauses and silence are central in this L33: writter/writer L34: writter/writer L36: a strory/a story L49: reffer to/refer to L55: Jane decribed her/Jane described her

There were two errors or lapses made by the same student that made little sense. I believe this

student may have been dyslectic due to the nature of the error: he or she used the required

letters for the words but they seem scrambled. These were not lapses, seeing that they

appeared twice in a slightly different form but I could not attribute a source to the error:

L47: unrealible/unreliable L47: realible/reliable

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3.2.10 Conclusion

For both the Louvain and the Ghent group it was found that about 20 % of all errors were

situated in the area of spelling. There were however substantial differences between the two

regarding compounds, punctuation, letters written but not pronounced and interference errors.

The Ghent students had a greater propensity for adding hyphens to compound words that did

not require it. They also created more compound words where there should have been none.

As became apparent during the research, Louvain students engaged more in making errors

against capitalization. It was hypothesized that the influence of their mother tongue could be

responsible for this, as French is not in the habit of using capitalized letters for languages or

for geographical derivations and adjectives.

While conducting the analysis, it was noted for the Louvain group that double consonants had

often been substituted for the single version. They seemed to be making more errors against

letters that are written but not pronounced. At the other end, they also frequently doubled the

consonant as an effect from the influence of their native language, especially for nouns. This

interference was considerably more significant for this group than the Ghent one.

Finally, most of the lapses have been registered in the Ghent essays. They were undoubtedly

longer in word length but students had spelling check at their disposal, which is quite

puzzling. This conclusion is however consistent with Buysse (2001:104): ‘remarkable that in

both corpuses more spelling lapses were made in the essays that were written at home than

those that were written in class’.

The next segment of the dissertation will present all the errors that have been found in the

category of grammar.

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3.3 Grammar This dissertation, like almost every other error analysis will treat the category of grammar as a

whole and will not be dividing it into morphology and syntax. Grammar as an overarching

term relates to a number of structural rules that guide the formation of phrases, clauses and

words. It would therefore only be confusing to make separate chapters for morphology and

syntax. The current classification should provide a clearer overview. The reader should note

that some phrases may contain several errors. Every error is addressed and corrected under the

proper heading, that is why a sentence may be grammatically incorrect on several levels, even

in the correction.

The total number of grammatical mistakes discovered in the Ghent corpus amounts to 499,

which is 55% of all errors. As for the Louvain corpus, 516 errors or 60.5% found belong to

the category of grammar. Despite efforts in secondary school, grammar still remains a very

serious problem in second language learning. However, the communicative turn of recent

years may also be a factor in diminished grammatical proficiency, as it has put more stress on

communication and polishing productive skills such as speaking and writing. The key word in

this approach is ‘communication’. As long as the expectation remains that pupils should only

be able to maintain a conversation, be it with a NS or a NNS, or at least make themselves

understood in a more or less correct manner, grammar will continue to be forced to play

second string. 60 percent of all errors occurred in the grammatical category for both groups

and these errors can be profoundly wrong.

3.3.1 Nouns

3.3.1.1 Misselection

Dulay, Burt and Krashen (1982:150) have defined misinformation as ‘[t]he use of the wrong

form of the morpheme or structure’. It has already been said that this dissertation will not be

using the term ‘misinformation’ because ‘misselection’ is more widely accepted and refers to

its definition more clearly. 16 instances have been found in the Ghent corpus in which the

student selected the wrong form of that particular morpheme or structure. The Louvain corpus

on the other hand counted 49 such errors.

The first set of errors shows that students pluralized what should have been singular. All

plural forms are correct but the context of the sentence required a singular form. Some

students, like G5 and G25, did not notice that the meaning of the words became ambiguous

with the addition of the –s. Property, as in something you own materially, becomes properties

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as in characteristics. Hearing, as in the ability to perceive sound, becomes a sort of trial

session. Other students did not write down the correct number of a word even though there

were additional clauses or words that indicated which form should have been used (G16, G36,

G55). And finally, G23 betrayed conventions and probably believed years to be countable in

this construction.

G5: noble families who had a lot of properties/noble families who had a lot of property G16:seventeenth and eighteenth centuries/seventeenth and eighteenth century G16: Irish immigrant workforces/Irish immigrant workforce G23: a seventies years old/a seventy-year-old G25: hard of hearings/hard of hearing G36: this books looks like/this book looks like G55: the conspiracies to take her life: the ‘Complot of Babington’/ the conspiracy to take her life: the ‘Complot of Babington’

The second set presents the opposite of the previous one. Here the students have selected a

singular form whereas they should have used a plural. In G16 and G39 it is clearly discernible

that there are indications for the plural present in the other clauses. G21 may have turned to an

analogical process with ‘what is the matter’. Matter as a noun is usually present in a text in a

singular form, except when it is used as a verb, in which case the normal rules of conjugation

apply.

G16:roots[…]Its origin we find/roots[…]its origins we find G21: does not have any perspective in matter of history/does not have any perspective in matters of history G39: their protestant idea only became stronger/their protestant ideas only became stronger

The third set is different. The students here have substituted the correct noun for either an

adjective or a verb.

G6: as other religious/as other religions G8: and was zealous for equal rights/and was a zealot for equal rights G41: the productive rate/the production rate G55: to hope for the good out of three/to hope for the best out of three

G7:the path to succeed/the path to success G38: Creoon did not take offend/Creoon did not take offense

As mentioned before, the Louvain corpus contains 49 errors that involve the misselection of

nouns. 39 of those errors are attributed to either a wrongful pluralization or, what has become

more apparent during the analysis and which is really interesting, the incorrect use of a

singular form. A selection has been made below which reflects the same balance in the

complete list. To have a complete overview I refer to the addendum. There is no plausible or

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reasonable explanation for why the Louvain students selected the singular form of the noun

and not the plural. When one translates all these phrases in French, all the erroneous instances

take a plural form. There are also indications in every clause and every noun is countable. All

these factors should encourage the use of a plural yet so many students failed to do this.

L1: These two culture are/These two cultures are L1: The three story show/The three stories show L2: the African are called/the Africans are called L3: These colonized people are completely seen as inferior human/These colonized people are completely seen as inferior humans L5: Ibo people have conversation/Ibo people have conversations L11: the African are/the Africans are L11: Achebe names the African and gives them with this name an own identity/ Achebe names the African[s] and gives them with this[these] names an own identity L12: there are no name/there are no names L13: we can see the different way of speaking and thinking/we can see the different ways of speaking and thinking L20: extracts come from different genre/extracts come from different genres L20: the different social class/the different social classes L23: their families are ennemy/their families are enemies L23: In both extracts couple have problems/In both extracts couples have problems

The number of misselected plurals is significantly smaller as can be noticed in the next set.

L2: In Heart of Darkness you have no contacts between/ In Heart of Darkness you have no contact between L12: It’s thanks to his experience that he can write about colonizations/ It’s thanks to his experience that he can write about colonization L20: It is a kind of absurd situations/It is a kind of absurd situation

Contrary to the Ghent students who substituted more nouns with adjectives, the Louvain

group used verb forms instead of nouns. This could be related to the category within

punctuation that has been dealt with earlier, namely the arbitrary and inconsistent nature of

word derivation. There are no less than six different word endings in these 9 instances alone:

response, laughter, tendency, reversal, hatred and knowledge. The insecurity regarding these

word derivations may very well be one of the most important causes of misselection for the

Louvain group. The two final errors are misselections of adjectives instead of nouns.

L4: a respond to Heart of Darkness/a response to Heart of Darkness L6: As a respond to Conrad/As a response to Conrad L14: laugh is a form of expression/laughter is a form of expression L35: this tend to play with the time has an effect/this tendency to play with the time L38: contains a main difference such as his chronological reverse/ contains a main difference such as his chronological reversal L38: the theme resolve around love and betray/ the theme resolve around love and betrayal

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L48: the hate of ourselves/the hatred of ourselves L57: uses his acknowledges to write about/uses his knowledge to write about L57: This reverse makes the reader/This reversal makes the reader

L38: with this absurd the reader has to/with this absurdity the reader has to L38: his non linear/his non linearity

3.3.1.2 Omission

The omission of nouns in a sentence causes the structure of that sentence to break down.

These omissions could mostly be attributed to interference from the mother tongue or

inattentiveness. Examples of the latter are likely G12, L38 and L50. All other errors are

probably due to the former.

G12: more commonly as/more commonly known as G18: in the following some topics/in the following paragraphs some topics G18: while in the seventeenth and eighteenth most of them/while in the seventeenth and eighteenth century most of them G55: the fortunate was/the fortunate one was

L23: to make laugh/to make people laugh L38: having no aim and no logical./having no aim and no logical order. L50: gothic are present/gothic elements are present

3.3.2 Articles

3.3.2.1 Omission

The errors made in the essays of both groups are entirely against either definite or indefinite

articles. Definite articles indicate to the listener or the reader that something is particular to

them and which is identifiable to them. Another function is to refer to something or someone

unique. Definite articles are sometimes also part of a fixed idiomatic expression. Indefinite

articles on the other hand signify the opposite. They are also used when the subject is

irrelevant to the conversation or when someone is making a general statement. There were 17

instances of article omission in the Ghent corpus and 19 in the Louvain essays. The errors are

more or less equally divided for the Ghent group but the Louvain students omitted

considerably more definite articles. This may be due to hypercorrection. The French definite

articles ‘le’, ‘la’ and ‘les’ are far more present in the language than the indefinite articles ‘un’

and ‘une’, especially in written language. Plural forms for example are written with ‘les’ most

of the time. They have learned in class that English does not necessarily require the definite

article for pluralization (les étudiants/students). The students were probably aware of this and

may have tried to omit them in situations in which they were uncertain. As for the Ghent

group, the omission of either definite or indefinite articles could be attributed to the influence

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of Dutch in the formation of a certain clause or phrase.

G2: on one side/on the one side G4: on one hand/on the one hand G7: in name of their god/in the name of their god G16: Celtic Glasgow and Glasgow Rangers/Celtic Glasgow and the Glasgow Rangers G16:which was played against Rangers/which was played against the Rangers G28: some of the habitats in care of the NT/some of the habitats in the care of the NT G31: Maltese are described/The Maltese are described G50: First crucial element/The first crucial element G56: style with all aspects of modernism/style with all the aspects of modernism

G5: has kind of an infirmity/has a kind of an infirmity, has a kind of infirmity G16:sometimes deaths as result/sometimes deaths as a result G25: recognized it as university/recognized it as a university G29: to come to answer/to come to an answer G37: everyone has an evil side with weak spot/everyone has an evil side with a weak spot G38: this is story that/this is a story that G41: It is not without reason that British people love their pets/It is not without a reason that British people love their pets G43: spent his life as lecturer/spent his life as a lecturer

L1: The Igbo culture was the only thing that makes them clan/ The Igbo culture was the only thing that makes them a clan L4: Africa is not Heart of Darkness/Africa is not a Heart of Darkness L12: possess lot of lands/possess a lot of lands L28: lot of differences/ a lot of differences

L6: goes to Congo/goes to the Congo L7: occurs in Congo/occurs in the Congo L10: the story occurs in Congo/the occurs in the Congo L12: he is inspired by the colonization of Congo by Belgium/ he is inspired by the colonization of the Congo by Belgium L14: the message passes easily through reader’s mind/the message passes easily through the reader’s mind L16: the uncharted places of Congo/the uncharted places of the Congo L17: All main characters are/All the main characters are L22: Bible is often mentioned/The Bible is often mentioned L22: mark the evolution of theater plays and author’s vision/mark the evolution of theater plays and the author’s vision L26: and Bible has no authority anymore/and the Bible has no authority anymore L34: In most of dramas/In most of the dramas L40: a comedy of absurd/a comedy of the absurd L40: give access to his play to lowest classes/give access to his play to the lowest classes L42: are talking about past, we feel that/are talking about the past, we feel that L56: was written in 1600’s/was written in the 1600’s

3.3.2.2 Addition

The previous theory is somewhat proved in this segment. 54 errors were located in the

Louvain corpus that involved the addition of articles, the bulk of which have to do with an

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extra definite article. The errors below are representative for both groups, a complete list can

be found in the addendum. What is also remarkable is that the Ghent students also added more

definite articles than indefinite ones. Both standard Dutch and Flemish dialects make a lot of

use of definite articles in written language but also in oral speech. It can be clear from the

Ghent examples below that the influence of the mother tongue is exceptionally strong

regarding the selection of articles. 34 instances have been found in the Ghent corpus which

displayed the incorrect addition of articles.

G2: the bible of the decadence/the bible of decadence G3: of the lively London/of lively London G5: in the Greek Antiquity/in Greek Antiquity G5: out of the society/out of society G6: the core of the Christian teaching/the core of Christian teaching G10: became the language in the Church and law/became the language in Church and law G15: the Cockney slang/Cockney slang G16:rivalry between the two football teams:/rivalry between two football teams: G16: the Scottish history/Scottish history G18: appreciated by the many readers/appreciated by many readers G26: the most obviously represented/most obviously represented G32: hatred towards the protestants/hatred towards protestants G33: the Indian culture/Indian culture G33: he starts to think about the society/he starts to think about society G33: the Islam/Islam

G2: part of an everyday life/part of everyday life G3: transformed her disease into a strong writing/transformed her disease into strong writing G4:image of him being a sexist/image of him being sexist G5: used by a 250,000 people/used by 250,000 people G18: went to a boarding school/went to boarding school

L2:there you have a contact between/there you have contact between L7: colonization doesn’t represent a progress/ colonization doesn’t represent progress L12: all is not black or white in a life/all is not black or white in life L12: a really large and specific words/really large and specific words

L3: from the Conrad’s novel/from Conrad’s novel L3: part of the african culture/part of african culture L3: has been written the last/has been written last L4: an hierarchy in the language/ an hierarchy in language L5: The art of the conversation/The art of conversation L7: to inculcate them the Christianism/ to inculcate them Christianism L7: The colonization doesn’t/Colonization doesn’t L11: the atmosphere of the colonial imperialism/ the atmosphere of colonial imperialism L11: Achebe is against the colonialism and the imperialism/Achebe is against colonialism and imperialism L11: who fights against the weakness and against/who fights against weakness and against L12: The theme is also the colonization/The theme is also colonization

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L13: art of the conversation/art of conversation L13: Sometimes it’s better to be direct, sometimes have a long and beautiful conversation, sometimes use strong words and sometimes the silence is the best/ Sometimes it’s better to be direct, sometimes to have a long and beautiful conversation, sometimes to use strong words and sometimes silence is the best L14: the faith doesn’t exist anymore/faith doesn’t exist anymore L15: reference to the colonization itself/reference to colonization itself L15: destruction for the society/ destruction for society L16: but the things went in another way/ but things went in another way L17: Achebe shows very much the African culture/ Achebe shows very much African culture L17: return from the exile/return from exile L19: which appears in the History/which appears in History L20: The characters feel always threaten in the society/ The characters feel always threaten in society

3.3.2.3 Misselection

Some students have also selected the wrong form of the indefinite article. ‘A’ is employed

when the next word phonetically starts with a consonant. ‘An’ is used when the word that

follows starts phonetically with a vowel. Some students were not aware that the criteria are of

a phonetic nature and not related to orthography. 6 Louvain students and 1 from Ghent

succumbed to this pitfall. There were 14 errors in total, 3 of which belonged to the Ghent

corpus and 11 to the Louvain essays.

G37: an conscious level G48: a absolute misanthrope/an absolute misanthrope

G40: a heroic epic/an heroic epic

L1: an european/a European L4: There is an hierarchy/There is a hierarchy L6: an European girl/a European girl L14: an human/a human L18: an Harold Pinter comedy/a Harold Pinter comedy L27: an Harold Pinter’s play/a Harold Pinter’s play

L4: There is an foregrounding/There is a foregrounding L17: it’s a incest story/it’s an incest story L47: a I-narrator/an I-narrator L51: a exterioral narrator/an exterioral narrator L55: it is a internal focalization/it is an internal focalization

3.3.3 Pronouns

3.3.3.1 Personal pronouns

1. Misordering

Only one instance was found in which a student misordered a personal pronoun. English as a

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language takes the Subject-Verb-Object order. However, in L48 the verb is not ‘to believe

(someone) but ‘to make someone believe’, which brings a different meaning to the phrase

altogether. The student probably misconstrued the sentence due to an overgeneralization of

the SVO rule.

L48: which makes believes us/which makes us believe

2. Misselection

Misselection occurred when students did not uphold the pronoun antecedent agreement. This

means that there is a discrepancy regarding either person (G2), number (G41, L16, L44) or

gender (L2).

G2: someone can live […] do whatever you please/someone can live […] do whatever they please G24:dialects[…]because it lack its prestige/dialects[…]because they lack its prestige G41: one domestic pet and they are not afraid to pamper them/one domestic pet and they are not afraid to pamper it

L2: the presence of the British Empire even if he is well present/ presence of the British Empire even if it is well present L16: They have speakable rites but it’s a bit strange/They have speakable rites but they are a bit strange L44: Shakespeare and Beckett’s plays[…]but it criticizes a different aspect/ Shakespeare and Beckett’s plays[…]but they criticize a different aspect

Of more interest are the final three errors. Personal pronouns have been substituted for

demonstrative pronouns. This is a direct influence of French on English sentence construction

as they are literal translations: ‘celui-ci, celle-ci’.

L10: This one died/He died L20: Characters talk about torturing another in front of this one/ Characters talk about torturing another in front of him L23: This one is separated/It is separated

3. Omission

L15 and L23 are omissions in the truest sense of the word. The errors here are connected to a

wrongful use of ellipsis, which is the omission of vital grammatical parts of a sentence. There

are several rules connected with this phenomenon, one of which is that no referential

ambiguities may arise when leaving out a word.

L15: some ambiguities are created by the language and sometimes lead the reader/ some ambiguities are created by the language and they sometimes lead the reader L23: makes believe that/makes them believe that

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L32 and 34 were more difficult to categorize. They have been labeled as omissions because no personal pronouns are present. They have in a way been substituted for a dummy pronoun.

L32: There are talking/They are talking L34: there are good friends/they are good friends L34: there are in love/they are in love

3.3.3.2 Reflexive pronouns

1. Misordering

Reflexive pronouns are usually used when the object of a sentence is the same as the subject,

as the object of a preposition when object and subject are the same or when the subject needs

to be emphasized. In G56, ‘herself’ is put in Direct Object position but it is actually a subject

complement and therefore it has some (limited) maneuverability in the sentence.

G56: As she stated herself/As she herself stated

2. Misselection

There was only one instance in which a student had selected a wrong form of the reflexive

pronoun. The student was probably aware of the more general rule for the formation of

reflexive pronouns, which states that these are formed by adding ‘-self/-selves’ to a pronoun.

However, it is imperative that this pronoun be selected from the possessive pronoun category,

except for the third person, which he or she failed to do.

L17: heself was/ he himself was

3. Omission

The L17 student in all likelihood wished to emphasize the unexpectedness or peculiarity of

the subject. He or she was discussing the theme of betrayal and the error below was the apex

of that student’s argument.

L17: Even the story is fictional/Even the story itself is fictional

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3.3.3.3 Possessive pronouns

1. Misselection

The Ghent corpus contains 5 errors involving the misselection of a possessive pronoun

whereas there were 8 in the Louvain essays. The influence of the respective mother tongues is

undeniable. Dutch has no special possessive form for neuter nouns. Usually either a feminine

or a masculine possessive pronoun is used for the singular: ‘haar’ or ‘zijn’ and there is a

greater preference for the masculine form. The plural is signified by ‘hun’. The 5 erroneous

instances of the Ghent corpus are literal translations from Dutch. As for French, in order to

select a correct possessive pronoun, one has to know the gender of the noun. In other words, it

is not the antecedent which imposes the selection of a certain form but it is the object which

does. It would seem that the Louvain students are more inclined to select ‘his’ either to

substitute a plural form or the neuter one. French is the same as Dutch in that it only has two

forms to indicate the possessive singular, ‘son’ and ‘sa’, and only one form for the plural,

namely ‘ses’. The difference between these systems may cause a few problems in the correct

selection of possessive pronouns.

G12: the nation and their moral/the nation and its moral G33: event that left his inerasable traces/event that left its inerasable traces G37: Also the Ring adjusts his own size/Also the Ring adjusts its own size G42: when Flanders lost his dominant position/when Flanders lost its dominant position G55: That has his reasons/That has its reasons

L11: an African society with his fear of/an African society with its fear of L25: the time which goes away and his effects/ the time which goes away and its effects L31: Emma betrays his husband/Emma betrays her husband L37: ,,Waiting for Godot” is noticable for his dialogue/,,Waiting for Godot” is noticable for his dialogue L38: the reader, at its end/the reader, at his end L38: Betrayal contains a main difference such as his chronological reverse/Betrayal contains a main difference such as its chronological reverse L48: Charlotte Brontë[…], his feelings and his point of view/ Charlotte Brontë[…], her feelings and her point of view L56: Jane[…]: we know about his feelings and her story/ Jane[…]: we know about her feelings and her story

2. Omission

The Ghent corpus contains 4 erroneous instances in which the possessive aspect has been left

out. Only three such errors were found in the Louvain essays. These are all due to L1

interference, except for L25. The word ‘origin’ usually takes a possessive pronoun, especially

when it is in object position. The student was probably unaware of this.

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G8: a nursemaid job/a nursemaid’s job G39: an own institution/his own institution G49: modern statement of him/modern statement of his G57: very modern statement of him/very modern statement of his

L25: The tragedy had an origin/The tragedy has its origin L25: at Shakespeare period/at Shakespeare’s period L31: since Shakespeare time/since Shakespeare’s time

3. Addition

Some Louvain students overgeneralized the rule ‘noun+apostrophe+s’ to indicate the

possessive. The students however did not seem to know the details of it. When a phrase

already contains the words ‘of’ or ‘for’ to show the possessive, there is no need for the

previously mentioned rule.

By adding an indefinite article, L28 has turned ‘Harold Pinter’s play’ into a sort of trademark.

The phrase has shifted focus from uniqueness (there is only one play) to a special rare

commodity and as a result there is no more need for the possessive.

L28: an Harold Pinter’s play/ an Harold Pinter play L44: has some elements of comedy’s/has some elements of comedy L44: the themes of Beckett’s/the themes of Beckett L45: upper-classes’s/upper- classes’

4. Misordering

The error below could very well be a direct result from the influence of French. The literal

translation is ‘la femme de Rochester’ and it is clear that both constructions bear a

resemblance.

L55: wife’s Rochester/Rochester’s wife

3.3.3.4 Relative pronouns

1. Misselection

A relatively high number of errors within the pronoun category is situated in the section on

relative pronouns. It is remarkable to see that the Ghent students made 11 errors and the

Louvain students 8 against the proper selection of these. The rules are relatively easy: when

there is a reference to people ‘who’ should be used whereas objects should be indicated with

‘which’ or ‘that’. Time is signified by ‘when’ and places with ‘where’, sometimes with a

preposition attached to it. There is also a difference between the use of ‘which’ and that’, in

that the former can be employed in both restrictive and non-restrictive clauses and the latter is

confined to restrictive clauses. The fact that many of the students incorrectly inserted ‘which’

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may be related to avoidance strategies.

G6: consorting with those that are shunned/consorting with those who are shunned G6: people, which does not manipulate/people, who does not manipulate G7:some people that have/some people who have G15:why did it become this famous/why did it become that famous G32: In which way did her youth/In what way did her youth G33: relatives that/relatives who G35: Moore’s films, who shares/Moore’s films, which shares G38: did not show weakness what meant that/did not show weakness which meant that G39: what was not unthinkable/which was not unthinkable G50: novel[…], here the villain is played/novel[…], wherein the villain is played G55: Letters[…] where/Letters[…] wherein

L5: What makes laugh Unoka/Which makes laugh Unoka L10: after the Berlin Conference, that deals with/ after the Berlin Conference, which deals with L12: beasts who/beasts that L13: the last extract who/the last extract which L34: the second extract who were written/the second extract which were written L46: stories where emotions are very present/stories wherein emotions are very present L51: a gothic novel where the narrator/a gothic novel wherein the narrator L56: the moment where Bertha Mason appeared to Jane Eyre/the moment when Bertha Mason appeared to Jane Eyre

2. Omission

The error in L23 was preceded by a whole sentence. The referential pronoun ‘that’ has been

left out because of L1 interference. In French there is no use for such a word. The literal

translation is: ‘après, Romeo viens’. L26 may have meant ‘relied on the Bible’ as an

appositive, in which case he or she should have used ‘relying on the Bible’

L23: After Romeo comes/After that Romeo comes L26: makes fun of the Bible and people relied on the Bible/ makes fun of the Bible and people who relied on the Bible L53: uses the words “nervous” and after “calmly”/ uses the words “nervous” and after that “calmly

3. Addition

G35 added a correct relative pronoun but it was unnecessary in this particular context. The

influence of Dutch is once again present here.

G35: In ‘Happy Tree Friends[…], both lugubrious cartoons, where we find exaggerated black humour/ In ‘Happy Tree Friends[…], both lugubrious cartoons, we find exaggerated black humour

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3.3.3.5 Demonstrative pronouns

1. Misselection

‘This’, ‘that’, ‘those’, and ‘these’ are all demonstrative pronouns. They point to specific

things. They indicate whether something is near or far both in space in time. Demonstrative

pronouns also correspond with the number of the noun it determines. All instances of both the

Ghent and Louvain corpus, except for G50 and G51, are errors against number agreement.

G50 and G51 have been influenced by the L1.

G5: these class/this class G6: this peaceful people/these peaceful people G40: He could not let Beowulf, who comes across as a righteous and noble man, believe in pagan gods because his audience[…] expect this to be the qualities of a Christian man/ He could not let Beowulf, who comes across as a righteous and noble man, believe in pagan gods because his audience[…] expect these to be the qualities of a Christian man

G50: The overall image[…]is this of a terrifying, dark, fallen world/The overall image[…]is that of a terrifying, dark, fallen world G51: the reason here for is/the reason for this is

L11: Achebe names the African and gives them with this name an own identity/ Achebe names the African[s] and gives them with these name[s] an own identity L11: This three novels/These three novels L21: all this modern elements/all these modern elements L32: this names/these names L52: these novel was written/this novel was written

3.3.3.6 Indefinite pronoun

1. Misselection

Indefinite pronouns refer to beings, places or objects that are unspecified. They replace nouns

but do not specify which noun they replace. The problem with the following phrase is that

‘anyone’ is used in interrogative and negative sentences whereas ‘everyone’ can also appear in

positive sentences.

G5: show respect to anyone/show respect to everyone

2. Omission

In the Louvain corpus only two instances were found in which indefinite pronouns had been

omitted. ‘any’ when it refers to a certain amount is syntactically required to follow in a

negative or an interrogative sentence for both countable and uncountable nouns but two

students did not follow this rule.

L12: there aren’t good or bad people/there aren’t any good or bad people L16: there aren’t historical developments/there aren’t any historical developments

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3.3.3.7 Dummy pronoun

1. Omission

The dummy pronoun, formerly known as expletive or pleonastic pronoun, are pronouns which

lack preceding antecedents. They are syntactically necessary in the sentence because a

reference to a non-existent, unknown or irrelevant argument is required. Three such errors

were found in the Ghent corpus in which the students had omitted that particular pronoun.

G16: In a newspaper article was written/In a newspaper article it was written G37: In conclusion can be said/In conclusion it can be said G39: Often is said/It is often said

2. Misselection

Although the Louvain students did not omit dummy pronouns, they have on 4 occasions

misselected them.

L4: it doesn’t exist any translation/there doesn’t exist any translation L32: they are only two people on stage/there are only two people on stage L33: it’s no need to use/there’s no need to use L37: and finally, that was in 1978 that ,,Betrayal” was written/and finally, it was in 1978 that ,,Betrayal” was written

3.3.4 Adjectives

3.3.4.1 Misselection

Adjectives qualify a noun or a noun phrase. The errors presented below do not possess the

correct adjective which causes the phrase to be ungrammatical, or they substituted an

adjective for a noun, an adverb or a verb. The Ghent corpus contains 8 errors and the Louvain

essays produced 15 of them. The first set shows that a number of students had opted for a

noun instead of the adjectival form of the word. The G11, G53, G54, G56 on the other hand

are examples of: substitution with an adverb which also has a different meaning, substitution

with a verb, substitution with an adverb and a misselection of a quantifying adjective.

G4: abundance of inspiration resources/abundance of inspirational resources G24: an enrichment fact/an enriching fact G43: The melancholy farewell/The melancholic farewell G51: religion crises/religious crises

G11: literally interest/literary interest G53; easily to retrace/easily retraceable G54: a happily couple/a happy couple G56: show many talent/show much talent

Beside the comments already made regarding the Ghent errors, another interesting result

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emerged from the data. The Louvain essays showed that some students still subconsciously

make an agreement between the adjective and the noun it qualifies. This is presented in the

first set. The second set reveals a number of very random errors, all of which are erroneous

substitutions. There seems to be no system behind them.

L4: the differents meanings/the different meanings L17: lasts words/last words L18: The mains characters/The main characters L20: They are quite differents/They are quite different L20: grotesques situations L34: the mains characters/the main characters L34: could be related with the differents times/ could be related with the different times

L9: the all book/the entire book L10: he becomes passioned by/he becomes passionate by L16: they felt in security/they felt secure L18: the passionated tragedy/the passionate tragedy L25: extracts from the older which is/extracts from the oldest which is L25: died bodies/dead bodies L48: intern-focalization/internal focalization L50: both well short stories/both good short stories

3.3.4.2 Misordering

The position of adjectives is usually very straightforward: right before the noun or noun

phrase. They can also appear after a copular verb in predicative position. Some adjectives

have a fixed position after a noun, for example the president elect, or appear after a noun as a

past participle that indicates the action concerning the receiver. When there is a string of

adjectives, they follow the scheme below. 3 erroneous instances have been found in the Ghent

essays and 4 in the Louvain corpus. It is noticeable that both groups have been influenced by

their respective L1’s.

Opinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose A Silly young English man A Huge round Metal bowl A Small red sleeping bag Table 3 : Order of adjectives2 G18: a quite eccentric woman/quite an eccentric woman G24: the caused damage/the damage caused G32: In one sunny bright day/In one bright sunny day

L9: use terms difficult/use difficult terms L12 the lands colonized/the colonized lands

2 Taken from http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adjord.htm

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L20: Three genres very different/Three very different genres L56: a male narrathor omniscient/a male omniscient narrathor

3.3.5 Adverbs

3.3.5.1 Misselection

Adverbs are basically items that modify any part of speech which is not a noun. They can

appear in the form of an adjective + -ly, adverbial phrases, adverbial clauses or as a separate

single word. There are adverbs of manner, place, time, frequency, certainty and many more.

The position of adverbs in a sentence can either be at the beginning (usually linking adverbs)

before the subject, the middle (focusing adverbs, adverbs of indefinite frequency, adverbs of

certainty and degree) between the subject and the verb, between auxiliary verb and main verb

or at the end of a clause (adverbs of time and definite frequency, adverbs of manner, adverbs

of place). When adverbs modify adjectives they are usually placed immediately before them.

The problem with the first set is that it contains erroneous instances in which a misselection of

adverbs has occurred due to L1 transfer. The second set presents a number of errors that have

also been found in the Ghent corpus and which demonstrate that quite a few students have

inserted an adjective and not an adverb. The problem may lie in the fact that Dutch does not

have a separate form for adverbial purposes. All items are to a greater or lesser extent literal

translations.

A total of 23 errors has been found in the Ghent essays regarding the misselection of adverbs.

G26: Next to that, his father got imprisoned/On top of that, his father got imprisoned G33: Retrospectively he appeared to be a technician/In retrospect he appeared to be a technician G13: on this aspect/in this respect G21: in its whole/as a whole G40: in advantage for/in favour of G48: equally sharp as an execution sword/as sharp as an execution sword G51: in the meanwhile/in the meantime

G6: they take it literal/they take it literally G8: from their typical female point of view/from their typically female point of view G8: she was a real iconic figure/she was a really iconic figure G8: a complete opposite position/a completely opposite position G16: these violent loaded games/these violently loaded games G16:serious injured supporters/seriously injured supporters G23:more specific the geographical context/more specifically the geographical context G28: to live more ecological/to live more ecologically G39: she had a complete different vision/she had a completely different vision G40: deep-rooted/deeply rooted

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G45: in a complete ideal world/in a completely ideal world G51: presented far more interesting than Dame/presented far more interestingly than Dame G51: He reacted-as always-rather ambiguous/He reacted-as always-rather ambiguously G52:some define it as typical British/some define it as typically British G53: to be taken serious/to be taken seriously

The 12 errors from the Louvain corpus follow the same pattern as the ones from Ghent.

Influence from the mother tongue is noticeable, both in the first set and the second. There are

fewer errors and this is probably due to the fact that French does have a different way of

indicating adverbs. Leaving the irregular forms aside, French adverbs are usually composed

of the adjective + -ment/-ement, depending on what letter a word ends.

L3: a few time after/not long after L7: But after/But afterwards L14: In contrary with/Compared to L25: The third extract is the more recent/The third extract is the most recent L51: Once he is dreadfully nervous and three lines farer he is calm/First he is dreadfully nervous and three lines farer he is calm L56: Once he is nervous, later he is calm/First he is nervous, later he is calm

L4: a part autobiographical/partly autobiographical L4: as clear as possible/as clearly as possible L12: part-stranger/partly stranger L14: is definite like a conversation/is definitely like a conversation L38: the theme is doubtless love against everything/the theme is doubtlessly love against everything L47: he goes direct to the point/he goes directly to the point

3.3.5.2 Misordering

No less than 34 instances of this in the Ghent corpus and 26 in the Louvain essays have been

discovered during the analysis. Most of these errors violate the rules concerning the adverb or

adverbial in mid-position. The complete list of errors can be found in the addendum. It is

striking to see how words such as always, still and also continue to be placed in a position

where they do not belong. The students did not seem to remember that adverbs in mid-

position immediately go before a full finite verb, or that adverbs belong in the position

immediately after unstressed auxiliaries and the unstressed copula ‘be’.

G4: Also Gail D. Sinclair adopts the principle/Gail D. Sinclair also adopts the principle G6: they show always hospitality/they always show hospitality G7:relationship, sometimes[…]religions offer are just not enough/relationship,[…]religions offer are sometimes just not enough G23:The region mainly was regarded/The region was mainly regarded G23:in which freely an opinion about a particular culture is made/ in which an opinion about a particular culture is freely made

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G26:Also Charles Dickens did/Charles Dickens did also G27: Regularly, a combination of these two traits can be seen/ a combination of these two traits can regularly be seen G28: Even 95% of the ancient buildings serves as a home for animals/95% of the ancient buildings even serves as a home for animals G29: but still she is considered/but she is still considered G29: division between men and women still was very strict/division between men and women was still very strict

G9: are several times filmed/are filmed several times G11: to a great extent the Romans had prepared the way for their departure/the Romans had prepared the way for their departure to a great extent G38: Antigone placed the will of the gods in giving her brother a proper funeral above the law and the will of Creoon/ Antigone placed the will of the gods above the law and the will of Creoon in giving her brother a proper funeral

L2: We begin first/We first begin L4: The third extract shows clearly this foregrounding/The third extract clearly shows this foregrounding L10: He had also female feelings/He also had female feelings L17: Achebe shows very much the African culture/Achebe very much shows the African culture L17: they also will be destroyed/they will also be destroyed L20: The characters feel always/The characters always feel L20: represents very well the comedy of menace/ represents the comedy of menace very well L21: It deals also with/It also deals with L21: they betray also/they also betray L24: The theatre companies were then sedentary/The theatre companies then were sedentary L26: we have first/we first have L26: The story has also/The story also has L31: They have also/They also have L38: Waiting for Godot represents also/Waiting for Godot also represents L39: Shakespeare makes also use/Shakespeare also makes use L41: A tragedy often is a play/A tragedy is often a play

L12: There: Africans are the ‘good people’/Africans are the ‘good people’ there L15: they don’t need all the time modernization/they don’t need modernization all the time L20: it represents very well the romantic tragedy/it represents the romantic tragedy very well L41: we also find here awkward scenes/we also find awkward scenes here

3.3.6 Verbs

In this segment the issue of verbs will be discussed. They are the building blocks of a

sentence and as such they serve a very important function within the structure of

aforementioned sentence. Not only will this section maintain the division between addition,

omission, misselection and misordering but the topics of concord, tenses and other aspects

regarding verbs will be addressed. Only the most exemplary and clear errors are presented

below, for a complete list I refer to the addendum.

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3.3.6.1 Omission

The instance below is considered to be erroneous because the past participle of the verb ‘to

write’ has been omitted. This verb, for syntactic correctness, can either appear before ‘by’ or

before ‘1997’, with a preference for the former since it is a passive construction.

L15: The Ventriloquist’s Tale by Pauline Melville in 1997 was/The Ventriloquist’s Tale written by Pauline Melville in 1997 was

1. Concord between subject and verb

There is a significant difference in the amount of errors found in both corpora with respect to

concordance between subject and verb. The Ghent corpus counted 11 such instances and in

the Louvain essays no less than 44 errors have been discovered. These errors, as far as the

Ghent students are concerned, are evenly divided between plural and singular forms. The first

two sets bear witness to this. The incorrect concordance may be attributed to either the

selection of the wrong word as the subject (G9, G35, G51, G31, G34, G41), insecurity about

the number of the subject clause (G6, G46) or inattentiveness (G4, G43,G44).

G4: essays[…]that looks/essays[…] that look G6: people ,[…] is not dangerous/people,[…] are not dangerous G9: another billion is translated/another billion are translated G35: Moore’s films, who shares/Moore’s films, who share G46: calculation and practicality which often leads to disaster/calculation and practicality which often lead to disaster G51: his works, mainly Paradise Lost, still attracts a lot of attention/ his works, mainly Paradise Lost, still attract a lot of attention

G31: Blouet[…] says it were the locals/Blouet[…] says it was the locals G34:a combination of techniques leave a lasting impression/a combination of techniques leaves a lasting impression G41: half of the number of households keep/half of the number of households keeps G43: the striking similarity[…]are undeniable/the striking similarity[…]is undeniable G44: A youth subculture always need /A youth subculture always needs

The Louvain corpus presents a different picture. Most of the errors that were found broke the

subject verb agreement in such a way that most of the time plural forms were inserted were

singular forms were required. This may have something to do with the fact that in French only

the second person singular receives an –s, and not the third person singular as is the case for

English.

L1: Conrad forget to/Conrad forgets to L1: that’s why the Igbo culture die/ that’s why the Igbo culture dies L1: the colonization drive people mad/the colonization drives people mad L3: Heart of Darkness obviously completely demote them/ Heart of Darkness obviously

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completely demotes them L5: the author Achebe make us/the author Achebe makes us L5: he practise the art of conversation/he practises the art of conversation L11: This woman like the opinion of/This woman likes the opinion of

L12: beasts who grunts/beasts who grunt L42: Shakespeare and Pinter deals with the same themes/Shakespeare and Pinter deal with the same themes

2. Omission of the perfective aspect

The perfective aspect is expressed by a conjugated form of ‘to have’, complemented with a

past participle. In the two following instances the auxiliary verb ‘have’ has been omitted,

which is one of the prime indicators of the perfect aspect. It is possible that L1 interference is

responsible for this. In G2, the student could have thought that ‘might’ had the same meaning

as ‘maybe’ and could therefore have left out ‘have’ in compliance with a Dutch translation

(‘hij wilde misschien’). The same explanation may very well be offered for G29 as well (‘Jane

zou waarschijnlijk nooit –iets- gegeven zijn’).

G2: he might wanted to/he might have wanted to G29: If she indeed got married, Jane most likely would never been given/ G29: If she indeed got married, Jane most likely would never have been given

3. Omission of the progressive aspect

The progressive aspect, as opposed to the perfective aspect, is formed by a conjugated form of

‘to be’ and the addition of an –ing participle. The errors below demonstrate that the

progressive aspect has been left out.

G27: using[…] evading[…] avoid/ using[…] evading[…] avoiding G50: When Shelley wrote this story there were important developments made/ When Shelley wrote this story there were important developments being made

4. Omission of primary auxiliaries

On some occasions students from both groups left out primary auxiliaries, which is probably

caused by the influence of informal spoken language. The first 4 errors are instances in

which the primary auxiliary verb ‘to be’ has been omitted. G33 has left out the auxiliary ‘to

do’, which is likely to be due to L1 interference.

G14: No spectacular events to be found in Ulysses/No spectacular events are to be found in Ulysses G35: This, because it is difficult to/This is, because it is difficult to G43: as eager to quote from this book as other branches/as eager to quote from this book as other branches are G55: Mary Stuart well-known, but few people/Mary Stuart was well-known

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G33: our writers reacted slightly the same way as their US colleagues after the horrendous calamity/ our writers reacted slightly the same way as their US colleagues did after the horrendous calamity

The Louvain corpus contains instances in which all three primary auxiliaries have been left

out, as shown below. Some, like L27 and L41, may be due to inattentiveness; others, like L16,

L21 and L53, could have experienced L1 interference whereas L51 may not have wanted to

use ‘is’ twice in rapid succession.

L16: they haven’t human rites/they don’t have human rites L21: the play have not/the play doesn’t have

L54: that still not happened/that still has not happened

L27: the main caracteristics of the tragedy, other characteristics:/ the main caracteristics of the tragedy, other characteristics are: L41: It an unconventional literary work/It is an unconventional literary work L51: Jane very sincere and is/Jane is very sincere and is

5. Omission of -ing participle

There are only a few instances in which the –ing participle has been left out. Whereas G24

has omitted it altogether, the L-errors indicate that the learners were aware that a verb was

necessary but instead of using the progressive form they substituted it for a present simple.

G24: regard dialects as less valuable than/regard dialects as being less valuable than

L6: using Africa only as a background and deshumanize it/ using Africa only as a background and deshumanizing it L8:to see a development in what concerns the view on black people/ to see a development concerning the view on black people L45: as regards marriage/regarding marriage L56: we hear the heart beat louder and louder/we hear the heart beating louder and louder

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3.3.6.2 Misselection

1. Incorrect forms of simple past and past participle

This section of the dissertation is quite straightforward. Either the formation of the simple

past and past participle was correct, or it was wrong. It is worthy of note that there were

respectively 17 erroneous instances in the Ghent corpus and 19 in the Louvain essays.

The first set shows that 5 students still had difficulties with the simple past when it is used in

the construction ‘did + infinitive’. Instead of using the infinitive form, these students used a

simple past.

G3: she did not gave in/she did not give in G5: They didn’t just achieved/They didn’t just achieve G23: If the Balkans didn’t existed/If the Balkans didn’t exist G38: did Sophocles wrote/did Sophocles write G45: most other pilgrims did not came to word/ most other pilgrims did not come to word

The second set of errors comprises those instances in which students wrote down incorrect

past forms of irregular verbs.

G14: This lead to/This led to G16: The ‘new Scots’ build up a place/the ‘new Scots’ built up a place G38: she hung herself/she hanged herself G42: a bilingual society aroused/a bilingual society arose G46: When people red her books/When people read her books G53: this leaded to sayings/this lead to sayings

The third set consists of errors against the past participle. Most of these are irregular verbs but

G5 and G42 are regular verbs and as such students should have been able to add –ed in order

to obtain the correct formation.

G5: they weren’t treat fairly/they weren’t treated fairly G5: are also build with/are also built with G25: are also build/are also built G38: As proved Sophocles’ Antigone/As proven Sophocles’ Antigone G42: have already exist/have already existed G43: can best be proven/can best be proved

Almost all of the errors in the Louvain corpus were connected to the incorrect formation of the past participle. What is more is that all the instances in the first set have regular verbs in them. The second set is connected to the first but these verbs have errors in their stem and not in their ending, which is correct.

L1: Conrad will be criticize/Conrad will be criticized L2: presence of the British Empire even if he is well present/ presence of the British Empire

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even if he is well presented L6: this ambivalence is illustrate/this ambivalence is illustrated L6: could clearly be resume/could clearly be resumed L20: The characters feel always threaten/ The characters feel always threatened L22: his characters are weaken/his characters are weakened L32: can be perform/can be performed L35: how we are confront with/how we are confronted with L51: she was imprison/she was imprisoned

L5: these people are considerated/these people are considered L5: their kind of thought can be interprated in a negative way/ their kind of thought can be interpreted in a negative way L5: is considerated/is considered L36: Shakespeare’s theatre is destinied to the high society/ Shakespeare’s theatre is destined to the high society L41: the order is restablished/the order is reestablished

L35, L40 and L44 are somewhat peculiar. They can be considered errors in that the students

did not use the correct form of the past participle of irregular verbs, but they also neglected to

form a past construction as a whole. An infinitive was inserted instead.

L35: they could have find/they could have found L40: the play will be rewrite/the play will be rewritten L44: Harold Pinter has bring/Harold Pinter has brought

The last two instances once again demonstrate the influence of the L1. The French word for

‘to evolve’ is ‘évoluer’ and this is clearly discernable below.

L30: Drama evoluated a lot/Drama evolved a lot L37: evoluating/evolving

2. Tenses

Although tenses have always been viewed as being one of the most difficult aspects to learn

in English, it was nonetheless surprising to find 88 erroneous instances in the Ghent corpus

and 40 in the Louvain essays, which makes it one of the most problematic categories

according to the present analysis.

The first set of errors features instances in which students selected a present simple instead of

a simple past. A simple past is used when (re-)telling a story or when a past time indication is

present, such as a year, but these students and many others seemed to be oblivious to this.

G4: they feel like/they felt like G4: he has a grudge/he had a grudge G4: he treats women unfairly/he treated women unfairly G5: everyone can speak/everyone could speak

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G8: with this one she says/with this one she said G8: she says she has the ‘royal flush’/she says she had the ‘royal flush’ G8: the feminist movement starts with Virginia Woolf/the feminist movement started with Virginia Woolf G9: Agatha Christie had also written an autobiography/Agatha Christie also wrote an autobiography G9: In 1930 […] where she meets/In 1930 […] when she met G9: Max is 14 years younger/Max was 14 years younger

The next four errors substituted a present perfect passive for a present simple passive or a

present continuous passive. The students probably knew that a passive tense was in order but

they did not see the present relevance of the phrase and therefore neglected to use a perfect

tense.

G5: who is already mentioned/who has already been mentioned G8:women are only regarded as full since/women have only been regarded as full since G9: she is being called the best writer/she has been called the best writer G9: Thirteen at Dinner’ are also filmed/ Thirteen at Dinner’ has also been filmed

G6 and G8 selected a present simple passive and a past simple although a past simple passive

was required. The students talk about an action in the past of which the subject was not the

agent.

G6: the Amish are founded/the Amish were founded G8: she received a lot of prizes during her career/she had received a lot of prizes during her career

There are a number of adverbs which usually take a present perfect and ‘just’ is one of those

when it refers to a recently finished action in the past with present relevance.

G7: I just described/I have just described

A past perfect continuous is usually required when there are two actions in a sentence in the

past. The first continued action in time would be represented by a past perfect continuous and

the second action by a simple past. In the error below, the book was written but before that,

people had been waiting a long time for it to be finished.

G8: was the novel everyone was waiting for/was the novel everyone had been waiting for

The last error is related to conditionals, more specifically the second conditional. This

conditional is used for unreal possibilities or dreams; which was the case for this instance.

The student did not recognize the special nature of the construction and employed a regular

simple past.

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G6: as if it was/as if it were

The same comments apply to the errors found in the Louvain corpus. The first set shows how

several students utilize a present simple when they are recalling events or telling a story

instead of a simple past.

L1: The Igbo culture was the only thing that makes them clan/ The Igbo culture was the only thing that made them clan L7: But after some villagers agree/But after some villagers agreed L10: after the Berlin Conference, that deals with/after the Berlin Conference, that dealt with L23: when Romeo arrived, he believes Juliet was dead/ when Romeo arrived, he believed Juliet was dead L27: Shakespeare writes it during the Elizabethan age/Shakespeare wrote it during the Elizabethan age

Most of the Louvain students were able to successfully form and use the passive voice. In the

following instances however some of them used a present simple passive instead of a past

simple passive or other forms. This is once again related to the aspect of narration of events in

the past.

L2: The book is written just after/The book was written just after L2: the author is born in Guyana/the author was born in Guyana L4: is published in the first years of the twentieth century/was published in the first years of the twentieth century L12: he is inspired by the colonization of Congo by Belgium/ he was inspired by the colonization of Congo by Belgium L35: Harold Pinter is inspired by Waiting for Godot for his play/Harold Pinter was inspired by Waiting for Godot for his play

L1 and L11 both talk about the African people in ‘Heart of Darkness’. These two sentence

constructions required a present perfect passive as there is present relevance and the Africans

may be subjected to separation strategies but they are not the ones doing the subjugating.

L1: Now they are divided they are nothing/ Now they have been divided they are nothing L11: the African are deshumanised because they weren’t named/the African are deshumanised because they have not been named

The stress in L17 is on the word ‘rules’ which had been of great influence on the subject.

These rules defined the subject in the past and the present and therefore the correct tense is a

past perfect.

L17: He dies without a title, hurting the rules of his religion which is very important for him/ He dies without a title, hurting the rules of his religion which had been very important for him

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L6 contains another error related to the use of the passive voice. It is the author who tells the

story and who influences they way in which things are told, and as such the prologue and

epilogue are not agents. The sentence therefore requires a present simple passive.

L6: the way the prologue and the epilogue are telling/the way the prologue and the epilogue are told

Apart from L21, who, by adding a progressive aspect, changed the meaning and innuendo of

the word ‘loving’, all other errors below did not adhere to the principle of concordance. There

is a present simple in the first clause and there should be one in the second clause as well.

L21: He is still loving his wife/he still loves his wife L23: she finds Romeo dead and she also commited suicide/ she finds Romeo dead and she also commits suicide L23: he doesn’t give her what she is expected/he doesn’t give her what she expects L33: we can notice that the characters are coming from the upper class/we can notice that the characters come from the upper class

3. Auxiliaries

There are three primary auxiliaries in English: to be, to have and to do. The first set contains

instances in which students have misselected these. Some of these are also a matter of style,

such as G15 and G55, others are incorrect substitutions.

G5: who was confirmed speech is divine/who had confirmed speech is divine G15: Alex gets to be treated/Alex is to be treated G31: they were decided/they had decided G45: It can be clear/It is clear G51: When the king of England became overthrown/When the king of England was overthrown G55: Mary got banished/Mary was banished

Modal auxiliaries are more difficult to grasp than primary auxiliaries, because the rules

behind the use of them are more elaborate. Modal auxiliaries indicate the level of

decisiveness, necessity, ability, availability, permission, (im)possibility, advisability,

expectation, prohibition and also determine the social distance between two people. The

following four errors are violations of the rules. G10 and G55 are too strong, G23 breaks the

convention of concordance and G24 is both archaic and mistaken in that ‘shall’ is mostly used

with ‘I’, ‘you’ or ‘we’ but not ‘one’.

G10: It must be said/It should be said G23: If Stoker really would have been in Montenegro he could have known/ If Stoker really would have been in Montenegro he would have known G24:one shall/one will

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G55: he decided that Riccio must be killed/he decided that Riccio had to be killed

The errors in the first set of the Louvain corpus are all violations regarding the level of

possibility, which in these cases should be indicated by the use of ‘could’.

L5: their kind of thought can be interprated in a negative way/ their kind of thought could be interprated in a negative way L21: the first can be an extract of drama/the first could be an extract of drama L30: That’s why some critics argue that Shakespeare would not be the real author/ That’s why some critics argue that Shakespeare could not be the real author L48: Bertha is maybe one dubble of Jane/Bertha could be one dubble of Jane

The final set presents a number of instances in which errors have been made against the

proper selection of primary auxiliaries. There is a greater influence of the L1.

L6: should we have to mix?/do we have to mix? L10: He makes a female act/He does a female act L14: : the author doesn’t used the real name/the author hasn’t used the real name L25: he makes backwards/he goes backwards L34: The third extract were written[…] and have more political/The third extract were written[…] and is more political L53: a human being who is become mad/a human being who has become mad

4. Infinitive, ing-participle and gerund

12 errors were found in the Ghent corpus and only 6 in the Louvain essays concerning the

misselection of infinitives, ing-participles and gerunds. Most of the constructions used below

are idiomatic and can only be learned through regular contact and practice. Some are due to

omission or misselection of prepositions and others are the direct result of a literal translation

from the L1.

In the first set the students used an –ing participle where an infinitive would have sufficed.

G6: whether or not accepting/whether or not to accept G14: she agreed on publishing Ulysses/she agreed to publish Ulysses G21: he does nothing but adapting/he does nothing but adapt G30: Summarizing it may be said/To summarize it may be said G34: One might even go so far as claiming/One might even go so far as to claim

The second set displays those instances in which students have opted for an infinitive where

the –ing participle was necessary.

G27: is the key to make this therapy work best/is the key to making this therapy work best G29: this was her way to discuss the position of women/this was her way of discussing the position of women G33: who is suspected to be a terrorist/who is suspected of being a terrorist

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G38: Antigone is worthy to be called/Antigone is worthy of being called G40: faced the difficulty to somehow find/faced the difficulty of somehow finding G54: to prevent that another civil war would break out/to prevent another civil war from breaking out G55: love of his life to be taken away from him/love of his life being taken away from him

The errors made by the Louvain students are somewhat more difficult to attribute a source to.

They did make mistakes in the selection of the correct passive form but not in the formation

or application of it. As such the errors made by the students below make little sense.

L6: doing by the European people/done by the European people L6: It is a very literary effect using by/It is a very literary effect used by L6: May such things make us thinking/ May such things make us think L32: make the reader thinking/make the reader think L38: seems having no aim/seems to have no aim

L7 and L23 were probably not aware that a verb after a noun + the preposition ‘of’ is formed with –ing.

L7: But after some villagers agree the way of think/ But after some villagers agree the way of thinking L23: the way to write/the way of writing

3.3.6.3 Misordering

There was not a big difference in the number of instances in which students misordered verbs

in a sentence. The Ghent corpus counted 11 of these and the Louvain essays 14. The basics of

verb placement is located in the Subject-Verb-Object structure.

The negation can appear immediately after the auxiliary verb, but not in between the -ing

particle and the past participle.

G1: being not represented/not being represented

The next six errors all violate the SVO –order.

G16: Its origin we find/We find its origin G21: Between this writing piece and his last/Between writing this piece and his last G25: In many European countries was the choice between manual or oral method inevitable/ In many European countries the choice between manual or oral method was inevitable G25: Valerie Sutton introduced in 1974 sign-writing/Valerie Sutton introduced sign-writing in 1974 G40: There can be found a lot of Christian connotations/A lot of Christian connotations can be found G51: There were made derivations of the big poem/Derivations were made of the big poem

Appositives usually immediately follow the noun they explain or define. G25 made an error

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in that he or she placed it after the verb.

G25: Gallaudet laid with his open-minded attitude the foundation of linguistic research/ Gallaudet with his open-minded attitude laid the foundation of linguistic research

G29 has probably overgeneralized the SVO-principle. ‘To publish something’ follows the

normal order but ‘to get something published’ does not. ‘to get’ or ‘to have something done’

indicate that the subject is not the agent but he did incite the action.

G29: Jane managed to get published her novels/Jane managed to get her novels published

After ‘only (then, when, after,...)’ there should be inversion. It is likely that the next two

students were not aware of this.

G38: Only by possessing these qualities a character could/Only by possessing these qualities could a character G50: Only when her suitor, Valancourt, rescues her, she can escape from it/ Only when her suitor, Valancourt, rescues her, can she escape from it

Articles and nouns are usually not separated unless by an adjective or an adverb, which is not

the case for Africa in L2.

L2: after the Africa dividing/after the dividing of Africa

Most of the errors in this subcategory are a direct result from L1 interference. The structure of the instances below is based on French.

L2: What is pointed here, it is the speakable rites/The speakable rites are pointed here L2: What is central in those different extracts, it is the different approaches L5: What makes laugh Unoka/What makes Unoka laugh L9: because what the most important is, it’s to give action/because what is most important is to act L11:tries to show to the readers a vision of African people a little more modern/tries to show a little more modern vision of African people to the reader L17: which all are/which are all L20: The third extract, called ‘The New World one’, it is written by/ The third extract, called ‘The New World one’ is written by L38: Betrayal is as well complicated/Betrayal is complicated as well L40: they have all despair/they all have despair L48: In this text, it is again a different form/There is a different form again in this text

L19, L25 and L36 made an error against the SVO-structure. Adverbials of place are usually

located at the beginning, separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma, or more at the

end. They do not take up position between verb and object. L19 and L36 were mistaken in

inverting the word order.

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L19: The audience has greater knowledge than do the characters/The audience has greater knowledge than the characters do L25: I see in these three plays the language develop/ L25: I see the language develop in these three plays L36: from which also come the characters/from which the characters also come

3.3.6.4 Addition

1. Auxiliaries

There was only erroneous instance in which an auxiliary had been added. The purpose of the

author was probably to emphasize his or her point, in opposition to popular belief, but this

construction is not possible when ‘no longer’ is added to the equation.

G57: in which individual thought, emotion and enterprise do no longer exist/in which individual thought, emotion and enterprise no longer exist

3.3.7 Prepositions

3.3.7.1 Omission

Prepositions indicate a certain relationship between several things mentioned in a sentence.

They can occur on their own or they can be fixed to a noun, a verb, an idiom and so on. In this

section grammatical errors will be discussed regarding the omission of prepositions. 23 errors

were found in the Ghent corpus and 13 in the Louvain essays. The first set deals with those

instances in which fixed verb prepositions have been omitted. These verbs can exist on their

own but when an object is added they need a preposition. Students seemed to experience the

most difficulty with prepositions attached to verbs.

G3: doctors also recommended her plenty of rest/doctors also recommended to her plenty of rest G5: they established this language the deserved statute of/they established for this language the deserved statute of G7:when walked correctly/when walked upon correctly G47: to juggle words/to juggle with words G50: reveals us that/reveals to us that G52: embarked their collaboration/embarked on their collaboration G54: to prevent that another civil war would break out/ to prevent another civil war from breaking out

The second set features erroneous instances with nouns that take prepositions when placed in

a subject position followed by a new clause. The nouns can also occur on their own. 6

students may have left these out due to L1 transfer.

G5: the question whether it is/the question of whether it is G13: two main reasons why people/two main reasons for why people

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G17: still the question remains who Jane was/still the question remains of who Jane was G29: added a bit romance/added a bit of romance G31: what kind Mediterranean treasure/what kind of Mediterranean treasure G48: The reasons why Swift/The reasons for why Swift

Two students neglected to add the preposition ‘on’ when talking about a date.

G8: The tenth of December Doris Lessing received/On the tenth of December Doris Lessing received G14: was launched February 2nd 1922/was launched on February 2nd 1922

Not only nouns and verbs but adjectives may sometimes also be accompanied by a fixed

preposition. ‘Regardless’ is such an adjective when it means without proper thought or

consideration.

G15: regardless one’s actions or crimes/regardless of one’s actions or crimes

The Louvain corpus has less errors in this area but they nonetheless resemble those that were

made in the Ghent essays. All the different parts of speech that require a preposition are

present here as well, although upon comparison it is clear that students made more errors

against verbs with prepositions as was also the case for the Ghent group.

L4: to explain the reader/to explain to the reader L5: without listening each other/without listening to each other L8: he couldn’t adapt something new/he couldn’t adapt to something new L6: can’t imagine let african people alone/can’t imagine to let african people alone L14: they do not want lose/they do not want to lose L15: Danny tries to explain him/Danny tries to explain to him L24: they are betraying each other not loving each other/ they are betraying each other by not loving each other L25: I’m going to present you these extracts/ I’m going to present you with these extracts L46: some things prove us/some things prove to us

L14: The last extract, astonishment is expressed, sadness too/In the last extract, astonishment is expressed, sadness too L28: with short sentences, spoken english/with short sentences, in spoken english

L50: short story which the aim is/short story of which the aim is

L52: all England is considered/all of England is considered

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3.3.7.2 Misselection

The misselection of prepositions was by far the most difficult area for both groups. They each

made approximately 80 errors. It would seem that not only tenses still prove problematic but

the proper use of prepositions as well. The influence of the students’ respective native

languages remains very strong. Louvain students experience even more difficulties because

for almost every preposition they know, English has roughly three equivalents, each with their

own special use and nuance. It should come as no surprise that all students seem to be

struggling with this particular aspect of grammar. Every set has received a heading to indicate

what the error is exactly.

Noun+misselected preposition

G3: out of fear for hostile/out of fear of hostile G4: outlook upon/outlook on G6: Besides the Bible they have unwritten/Beside the Bible they have unwritten G10: the case in Anglo-Saxon Britain/the case for Anglo-Saxon Britain G16: fear for/fear of G21: does not have any perspective in matter of history/does not have any perspective on matter of history

misselected preposition of place

G5: placed out of the society/placed outside of the society G9: educated in home/educated at home

misselected preposition of time

G11: In the beginning of the fifth century/At the beginning of the fifth century G21: a reflection on society of that particular time and place/ a reflection on society at that particular time and place

verb+misselected preposition

G6: they are divided in/they are divided into G11: on whom the Arthur-saga could have been inspired/by whom the Arthur-saga could have been inspired G16: compared with hooliganism/compared to hooliganism G17: went into history as/went down in history as G21: to work at the Imperial Police/to work for the Imperial Police G55: she falls in the arms of/she falls into the arms of

adjective+misselected preposition

L1: he’s unaware about this/he’s unaware of this L6: different than in Europe/different from in Europe

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misselected preposition of place

L2: Marlowe assists to the scene/Marlowe assists on the scene

misselected preposition of time

L3: in the end of the twentieth century/at the end of the twentieth century

misselected preposition of direction

L7: who comes in their village/who comes to their village L8: to go mad into the jungle/to go mad in the jungle L10: travels in Brussels/travels to Brussels L15: lead the reader in a wrong interpretation/lead the reader to a wrong interpretation

noun+misselected preposition

L2: approaches of the colonialization/approaches to the colonialization L4: an hierarchy in the language/an hierarchy of the language L6: vision of imperialism/vision on imperialism L9: difference of vocabulary/difference in vocabulary

verb+misselected preposition

L4: from Joseph Conrad/by Joseph Conrad L6: revolting by/revolting against L7: attracted by Africa/attracted to Africa L7: to make love with his sister/to make love to his sister L8: the book dates to 1958/the book dates from L9: Heart of Darkness of Conrad/Heart of Darkness by Conrad L10: extracted by ‘Things Fall Apart’/extracted from ‘Things Fall Apart’ L11: a novel from Joseph/a novel by Joseph L11: think to a novel/think of a novel L11: to interest the reader about the life and the rules/the interest the reader in the life and the rules L11: he expresses that with showing/he expresses that by showing L26: written with a language/written in a language

3.3.7.3 Misordering

Ending a sentence with a preposition is highly frowned upon by the scholarly community.

Although it is not against the rules of grammar per se to do so, it is considered to be informal

and uneducated. However, in some cases there is just no other option but to end a sentence

with a preposition (for example: ‘what did you step on?’). It is perfectly acceptable if the

preposition used is not extraneous. The first set contains examples of phrases that should have

been altered to remove the preposition from end position.

G2: that he was known for/for which he was known G6: who they are also named after/after whom they are also named

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G19: as the setting the novel begins with/as the setting with which the novel begins G19: another woman he was intensely involved with/another woman with whom he was intensely involved

Some prepositional verbs have such a strong connection that they do not allow for another

element to come between the main verb and the preposition. There were two such instances in

the Ghent corpus.

G15: was not able to pass the entire brilliance of the novel on/was not able to pass on the entire brilliance of the novel G40: It is not known who wrote the epic down/It is not known who wrote down the epic

Only one error was detected in the Louvain corpus regarding the misordering of prepositions.

This error is likely to have been caused by an overgeneralization of the aforementioned

guideline that prepositions at the end of a sentence should be avoided. However, as has been

mentioned before, it is ok for some cases to do so. And the L57 error would be such a case.

L57: about what is the story/what the story is about

3.3.7.4 Addition

Addition of prepositions can also occur. This happened 11 times in the Ghent corpus and 9

times in the Louvain essays. The first set contains instances in which prepositions have been

added to verbs that do not require them. This propensity is likely influenced by the L1. If one

were to translate all these sentences into Dutch, one would find that these all take prepositions

in that language but not in English. G55 on the other hand is the odd one out. It is possible to

say ‘I am getting married for the third time’ or ‘I am getting married to this woman’ but it is

ungrammatical to say ‘she had been married for three times’. The translation in Dutch is also

without a preposition. The student may have tried to act on an analogy with ‘I am getting

married for the third time’.

G4: Trying to influence to a more positive outlook/Trying to influence a more positive outlook. G30: go through it by themselves/go through it themselves G39: obey to the authority/obey the authority G41: strongly opposes to vivisection/strongly opposes vivisection G42: resemble to the West-Flemish dialect/resemble the West-Flemish dialect G52: addressing to the camera/addressing the camera G54: he opposed against the protestants/he opposed the protestants G55: she had been married for three times/she had been married three times

G16 was correct in assuming that ‘scale’ comes with the preposition ‘of’ (as in ‘the scale of

the attack’) but it has lost its function as a noun and has become a compound adjective, as a

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result of which the preposition can be dropped.

G16: large-scale of Irish immigrant workforces/large-scale Irish immigrant workforces

The next student added the preposition ‘on’, probably in concordance with the Dutch word

‘waarop’. He or she was perhaps unaware that ‘of’ already fulfilled that function.

G45: on which he could be proud of/which he could be proud of

There is a very small difference between later and later on. ‘Later on’ refers to a time

subsequent to a reference time but it is in the very near future, like ‘later on in the evening’.

‘Later’ is also a future indication but can span over longer periods of time.

G31: a mistake he would later on regret/a mistake he would later regret

The errors found in the Louvain corpus were more or less of the same nature. The first set

shows a number of instances in which students have added prepositions to verbs. This, again,

is due to L1 interference.

L10: Kurtz abuses of his power/Kurtz abuses his power L23: permits at the readers/permits the readers L30: The main theme treats of different styles/The main theme treats different styles L31: she doesn’t tell to Jerry/she doesn’t tell Jerry L50: the narrator adresses immediately to the reader/ the narrator adresses immediately the reader L55: the narrator is adressing to the reader/ the narrator is adressing the reader L56: the reader feels like in his feelings/the reader feels his feelings

This particular student has added the preposition ‘in’, which makes the adverbial clause one

of direction instead of manner.

L16: but the things went in another way/ but the things went another way (manner vs direction)

The final error was not far off the mark. The student probably had knowledge of the

construction ‘most of the’ and ‘most’ but he or she either forgot to add the definite article or

became confused end ended up with a mixture of the two.

L34: like in most of dramas/like in most dramas

3.3.8 Conjunctions

3.3.8.1 Omission

Conjunctions are a part of speech which connect several words, clauses, phrases or sentences

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together. There are three types: coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions and

subordinating conjunctions. The first link two parts together that are of equal syntactic

importance. The second consist of pairs of conjunctions that work together to organize two

parts of the sentence and the third connect main clauses with dependent clauses. There were

17 instances of conjunction omission in the Ghent corpus and 8 in the Louvain essays. The

first set provides examples of instances in which the subordinating conjunction ‘that’ has been

left out. G3 is an exception in the list.

There are four general rules that indicate when ‘that’ should not be omitted:

1) When a time element intervenes between the verb and the clause

2) When the verb of the clause is delayed, in other words if there is a relatively great

distance between the subject of the clause and its verb

3) When a second ‘that’ can clear up miscommunication in a sentence or clarify who did

or said what

4) ‘That’ is usually not omitted when it is part of reported speech

And there is one that states when ‘that’ can be omitted: if the sentence feels good and no

ambiguities arise in it due to omission, or the sentence just seems more elegant and efficient,

then the ‘that’ can be safely left out. The examples below all violate the rules in some way.

G3: questions arise whether she was/questions arise as to whether she was G4: by pointing out many English writers described women/by pointing out that many English writers described women G5: who was confirmed speech is divine/who was confirmed that speech is divine G18: This means there is/This means that there is G24:It is clear, the terms/It is clear that the terms G25: discovered sign-languages are also/discovered that sign-languages G29: one could confirm Austen shows empathy/one could confirm that Austen shows empathy G32: Rumors told Elizabeth was involved/Rumors told that Elizabeth was involved G32: now we know[…], we can conclude/now that we know[…], we can conclude G38: it is clear she has a natural ability/it is clear that she has a natural ability G40: is opposed by saying the Christian elements/is opposed by saying that the Christian elements G40: it is wrong to state Beowulf originally is/it is wrong to state that Beowulf originally is

The following two erroneous instances have omitted the coordinating conjunction ‘and’. G35

did not follow the rule that when someone provides a list of items, the last item on the list

should be preceded by a coordinating conjunction. G37 mistakenly inserted a comma to

conjoin two main clauses of equal syntactic value.

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G35: intellectual depth, wit, self-effacing culture./intellectual depth, with and self-effacing culture G37: on an conscious level, then it/on an conscious level and then it

The two sets of the Louvain corpus present almost the exact same mistakes as have been

found in the Ghent essays. The first set shows how the subordinating conjunction ‘that’ has

been left out, while in the second set the coordinator ‘and’ is missing.

L1: Now they are divided they are nothing/Now that they are divided they are nothing L8: He’s surprised there is no word for it/He’s surprised that there is no word for it L23: when Romeo arrived, he believes Juliet was dead/ when Romeo arrived, he believes that Juliet was dead L56: The writer confesses he is mad/The writer confesses that he is mad

L8: more action, suspense/more action and suspense L14: The last extract, astonishment is expressed, sadness too/ The last extract, astonishment is expressed and sadness too L16: they haven’t human rites, a religion, respect for the others/they haven’t human rites, a religion or respect for the others L29: emphasis on the plot, backstory, personality of the characters/emphasis on the plot, backstory and personality of the characters

3.3.8.2 Addition

12 students from Ghent and 7 from Louvain-La-Neuve have also added conjunctions in

sentences that did not really require them. Most of these instances are connected to matters of

style or grammatical myths, which a lot of people adhere to but are not incorrect. However,

seeing that so many people believe in these grammatical myths, I have included such errors in

the list as well. One of these myths is that it is ungrammatical for coordinating conjunctions to

appear after a period, at the beginning of a new sentence. A lot of people, be they native

speakers or non-native speakers, believe this rule to be true and apply it consequently and

consistently. Some writers denounce this rule and state that people should just check whether

a sentence or a paragraph still functions correctly without the initial conjunction or that they

should see if the new sentence should be connected to the previous one, in which case the use

of a period is not advisable. The addition of a conjunction is ultimately a matter of style and

subjective opinion as well. It depends on the intention of the author. The first set of errors did

not feel or sound very grammatical so these were included in the current category and not in

the section on style.

G1: age of twelve. And in the Brontë/age of twelve. In the Brontë G1: most novels. And because of this genre/most novels. Because of this genre G10: Eventually, and after a period/Eventually, after a period G24:It seems that as society encounters standard language as the way/It seems that society

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encounters standard language as the way G54: to prevent that another civil war would break out/ to prevent another civil war would break out

What has become apparent throughout the analysis is that students from both groups have a

difficult time grasping the difference between the preposition ‘like’ and the subordinating

conjunction ‘as’. ‘Like’ introduces a prepositional phrase but it cannot be used to initiate a

clause. The next two sets demonstrate that a number of students still struggle with this issue.

G2: As all dandies/Like all dandies G6:as other religious/like other religious G23: As Byron before her/Like Byron before her G23: countries as Greece, Portugal/countries like Greece, Portugal G26: Many, as Oliver Twist, followed/Many, like Oliver Twist, followed G43: just as Lewis/just like Lewis G45: just as Chaucer’s characters/just like Chaucer’s characters

L3: As in Things Fall Apart/Like in things fall apart L7: as in Things Fall Apart/like in things fall apart L9: not as the first and the third/not like the first and the third L21: symbols are used to represent certain desires as the tablecloth/symbols are used to represent certain desires like the tablecloth L33: the same problem as the others/the same problem like the others L44: As in Shakespeare’s play,/Like in Shakespeare’s play,

L12 is an example of how a student has added the subordinating conjunction ‘whereas’ to the

sentence. It is used to indicate a comparison between two items. However, in the original

sentence there was no sign that such a word was necessary. A new sentence was introduced

which had little to do with the first one, and it was certainly not a comparison.

L12: made in 1899 whereas English was only the third language/made in 1899. English was only the third language

3.3.8.3 Misselection

It becomes more and more clear that the Ghent population is less versed in the proper use and

selection of conjunctions than the Louvain group. Regarding the misselection of conjunctions,

14 errors were found in the Ghent corpus and 9 in the Louvain essays. In the first set three

examples are given of students who have selected the incorrect conjunction. These instances

required the coordinating conjunction ‘and’ because they involve clauses with the same

syntactic value.

G8: loved wandering in nature but was also a passionate reader/loved wandering in nature and was also a passionate reader G16: both Celtic fans as Ranger fans/both Celtic fans and Ranger fans

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G18: Jane Austen died, but still she is/Jane Austen died, and still she is

The second set of errors is more exhaustive. All of the instances, except for G15, G30 and

G37, reveal that the Ghent students experienced difficulties with the proper selection of

linking words. They chose word items that were in the right direction such as comparing,

contrasting, adding, sequencing and so on but the students seemed to fail to completely master

the finer nuances behind each conjunction. The third G15 and G37 inserted an adverb instead

of a conjunction and G30 added a preposition and not the correct coordinating conjunction.

G15: Burgess himself, on the contrary/Burgess himself, however G15:However the case may be/Whatever the case may be G15: Only, it was not because of his own merits/However, it was not because of his own merits G25:However the phenomenon is as old as the hills/Although the phenomenon is as old as the hills G25:However the deaf can count on a lot more understanding now, there is still/Although the deaf can count on a lot more understanding now, there is still G28: The National Trust was founded in 1895[…]. Nevertheless, the idea […] already dates from 1884/ The National Trust was founded in 1895[…]. However, the idea […] already dates from 1884 G30: feel caught up by a story like they go through it/feel caught up by a story as if they go through it G37: Further, even though/Furthermore, even though G41: But being considered a member of the family can sometimes/However, being considered a member of the family can sometimes G54: If he intended to become[…], his name is definitely on the list/Whether or not he intended to become[…], his name is definitely on the list

Three students substituted the comparative subordinating conjunction ‘than’ with ‘that’. This

may be due to the fact that these both take the same word in French: ‘Il a dit que’, ‘Elle est

plus belle que’.

L4: in an other way that Conrad/in an other way than Conrad L13: It’s more a reflexion that an answer/It’s more a reflexion than an answer L13: more meaningful that a loud conversation/more meaningful than a loud conversation L31: less complicated that the Beckett’s theatre/less complicated than the Beckett’s theatre

The final set of errors shows the instances in which students have selected the incorrect

conjunction. It should be remarked that students seem to be aware that certain conjunctions

are necessary to make the sentence work but the knowledge of the possible repertoire may be

a bit too limited.

L12: There: Africans are the ‘good people’ when it’s the opposite in ‘Heart of Darkness/ There: Africans are the ‘good people’ whereas it’s the opposite in ‘Heart of Darkness L16: The men of the Congo have their own language and houses. Whereas a few white men

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went to the Congo with a steamer-boat/ The men of the Congo have their own language and houses. Even so, a few white men went to the Congo with a steamer-boat L18: In opposition to the previous extract/Contrary to the previous extract L54: But he doesn’t share it with everyone/However, he doesn’t share it with everyone

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3.3.9 Conclusion

60 percent of all errors in both corpora were located in the category of grammar. However,

there are significant differences as to which grammatical items are problematic for each

group.

It was found that the Louvain students had a problem with the pluralization of nouns. Most of

the time they used singular forms where a plural was required.

The Ghent group on the other hand was more in the habit of substituting nouns with their

adjectival forms, whereas the Louvain students did the same but with verb forms. It was

hypothesized that this has something to do with the arbitrary and seemingly random nature of

English word derivation. The Louvain essays also showed that those students are more prone

to omitting definite articles. The reason for this could be hypercorrection. French has three

definite articles and two indefinite ones. Almost every noun is accompanied by an article and

most of the time a definite article is used. The students were probably aware that English is

not so zealous regarding such a tendency and they may have wanted to avoid this issue as

much as possible. Furthermore, both groups had a propensity for adding articles, mostly of the

definite kind. 54 additions were found for the Louvain group and 34 in the Ghent essays.

A severe influence of the L1 has become apparent throughout the analysis so far. This

influence perseveres in both sentence structure and the choice of certain grammatical items

for the Louvain students but it has a lesser influence on sentence structure for the Ghent

group. An example of this influence on the choice of grammatical items for the Louvain

students is for example that they still make an agreement between adjective and noun. In other

words, if the noun is plural, some students also add an –s to the adjective.

Both groups also misselected quite a few relative pronouns. On top of that, many students

from each group experienced difficulties with the placement of adverbs in a sentence, with the

Ghent students taking the lead in the number of erroneous instances. The topic of adverbs

proved to be a problematic issue for the Ghent group. There was a frequent misselection of

adverbs. This is likely due to L1 interference. A lot of adverbs had been replaced by their

adjectival forms and it was suggested that the cause of this may be the fact that Dutch does

not really have a separate form for the indication of adverbs.

One of the biggest problem areas according to the analysis concerned verbs. No less than 88

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and 40 errors against the tenses were found for respectively the Ghent group and the Louvain

students. Past tenses in particular seem to be difficult. The Louvain corpus revealed that the

students were able to form correct forms of the passive voice but sometimes the wrong tense

was used.

In accordance with the previous findings on the pluralization of nouns, it was also found that

the Louvain students experienced a lot of difficulties with subject-verb concordance. It was

remarkable that most of the time they used a plural form when a singular one was required.

This could be explained by the fact that French only adds an –s to verb stems in the second

person singular and not in the third person singular, which is the case for English. The

absence of an –s creates a plural form in English.

It was mentioned before that past tenses still proved problematic. What is more is that a lot of

errors were also made against the formation of the past simple and past participle. Both

groups struggled with irregular verbs and some Ghent students also made mistakes against the

‘did+infinitive’ contruction whereas the Louvain group had problems with the past participle

of regular verbs. They usually opted for the infinitive in a perfective construction.

The largest number of errors for both populations was situated in the category of prepositions.

Over 80 instances were listed in which the students had misselected prepositions. This

misselection was caused by their respective L1’s. Furthermore, French also has quite an

extensive preposition system but for every French preposition there are about two or three

English alternatives, each of which with its own nuance. A significant difference between the

two groups is that the Ghent students showed a greater tendency to omit fixed prepositions,

for verbs as well as nouns.

A final conclusion concerning grammar is that both groups struggled with the proper selection

of linking words. The general idea and direction of the selection process was correct but,

perhaps due to a lack of knowledge about the contextual application of each linking word, the

students did not manage to select the correct conjunction. Both groups also experienced

difficulties in determining the difference between the preposition ‘like’ and the subordinating

conjunction ‘as’.

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3.4 Vocabulary Vocabulary takes up about 16 percent of the total numbers of errors in the analysis. The same

categories are maintained, as well as Dulay, Burt and Krashen(1982) their source attribution.

The principle behind this section of the dissertation is simple: if an alteration in construction

also gives rise to a profound difference in meaning, then it is considered to be a lexical error

and not a grammatical error.

3.4.1 Nouns

3.4.1.1 Omission

The first section deals with nouns that have been omitted. The sentences, although

grammatically correct, make little sense. It is only until the words ‘story’ and ‘relationship’

have been added that the sentence takes on its true meaning.

L6: an incest love between a brother and a sister/an incest love story between a brother and a sister L6: he is the son of incest/he is the son of an incest relationship

3.4.1.2 Misselection

35 instances were located in the Ghent corpus and 30 in the Louvain essays in which students

have misselected a noun. The nouns that were originally selected were not optimal. They can

be considered as paradigmatic substitutions according to de Saussure. Although they entertain

a close relationship with the preferred noun meaning-wise, they are nonetheless incorrect

choices. Either the context is wrong or the required noun is part of an idiomatic expression, or

the relationship between selected and preferred noun is not strong enough to have a justified

substitution. In some instances words have even been selected because they share common

graphemes or morphemes. This holds true for both the Louvain and the Ghent group.

G2: at its highlight/at its peak G5: another important fact is the question/another important issue is the question G5: the largest amount of deaf children/the largest number of deaf children G5: some criticisms say that/some critics say that G6: this quest is the mother of all religions/this quest is the primary belief of all religions G6: there is a people situated/there is a population group situated G13: to reach a large amount of people/to reach a large number of people G16: promised a price to/promised a prize to G17: Wilde suffered from the misfire of his own courage/Wilde suffered from the backfire of his own courage G22: but to no gain/but to no avail G24:dialect as a barricade in communication/dialect as a barrier(impediment) in communication

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G24:Despite of the strains of movements/Despite of the strands of movements G26: novelists need factors/novelists need events G26: he experienced this iniquity very clearly/he experienced this inequality very clearly G26:Dickens had a huge dislike/Dickens had a huge aversion

L1: with an aim question/with a target question L2: between European colonializations/between European colonial powers L2: the African tribute/the African tribe L2: It is the contrary of Heart of Darkness/It is the opposite of Heart of Darkness L3: the profound wealthiness and tradition of Igbo culture/ the profound wealth and tradition of Igbo culture L6: not only an african voice, it is also an african critic/not only an african voice, it is also an african criticism L7: the division begins/the separation begins L8: a writing-back to/a reference to L10: The passage deals with his dead/The passage deals with his death L11: The particularity of this novel/The peculiarity of this novel L12: makes some critics about Marlow/makes some criticisms about Marlow L14: she is the part of feminism/she is the voice of feminism L16: At this time, there are still pilgrims and cannibals who live there/ At this time, there are still pygmees and cannibals who live there

There is a slight difference between both groups. Two students did not know the proper

English word for the concept they wished to address so they selected the word from their L1.

L13: like auto-destruction/like self-destruction L15: language is a powerful arm/language is a powerful weapon

3.4.1.3 Misordering

One student misordered the nouns below. What is special is that this could be expected of a

Dutch learner but not from a student who has French as his or her mother tongue. The names

of rivers are always specified in English with ‘the’+ name of the river or ‘the’+ river + name

of the river.

L16: the Thames River/the River Thames

3.4.2 Verbs

3.4.2.1 Misselection

It is only natural that the remarks made in the noun section also apply to verbs. However, the

proper selection of verbs seemed to be a bit more challenging than the same activity with

nouns. 66 misselections have been discovered in the Ghent corpus and 60 in the Louvain

essays, which makes the section the most problematic one within the category of vocabulary.

The first set displays a number of erroneous instances in which students have picked the

wrong verb. Although most of these verbs carry more or less the same meaning, there is still a

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difference in nuance or context. In G8 for example, a student had selected ‘approximate’

instead of ‘approach’. Whereas ‘approximate’ has a relatively stable meaning of ‘closing a

distance’, approach can be used in various other and abstract contexts. In this particular

example approach takes on the meaning of ‘to deal with/to portray’. The most important point

to make is that although these words are incorrect, they still have a paradigmatic or structural

connection with the preferred or intended verb.

G1 women writers were prejudiced/women writers were subject to prejudice G4: this essay argues the views/this essay refutes the views G5: he learned them/he taught them G5:In spite of the good result the French manual method gained/In spite of the good result the French manual method achieved G8: they approximate their subjects in a different way/they approach (portray) their subjects in a different way G8: started self-questioning their subjects and book/started doubting their subjects and books G8: feminists used to call out the Golden Notebook as a bible/feminists used to describe the Golden Notebook as a bible G9: ‘Thirteen at Dinner’ are also filmed/‘Thirteen at Dinner’ are also adapted to the big screen G12: lack of allies obliged the British/lack of allies obligated the British G13: until we reach the current situation/until we arrive at the current situation G13: we are swamped in things to read/we are barraged by G18: a lot of information could be learned about/a lot of information could be distilled about

The second set consists of three instances that contain idiomatic expressions: ‘to draw

attention to’, ‘to maintain correspondence with’ and ‘the question rises’. These three students

have translated directly from Dutch without making adjustments.

G17: he pulled attention to/he drew attention to G18: She also got correspondence with/She also maintained correspondence with G19: the question rises/the question arises

The two sets below demonstrate that the Louvain students experienced the same difficulties as

those of Ghent. It is clear that both groups are still trying to cope with the different contexts

and situations in which a certain word can be used. Dutch and French do not have the same

layers of nuance as English does. This causes many students to select words which they know

have roughly the same meaning, in English or in their L1, but these may nonetheless be

incorrect in that particular sentence.

L2: What is pointed here/What is described here L3: the language talked in this country/the language spoken in this country L3: Terms and proverbs aren’t adapted for Western civilized people/ Terms and proverbs aren’t translated for Western civilized people

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L3: Heart of Darkness obviously completely demote them/ Heart of Darkness obviously completely denounces them L4: Chafy’s mistake conducts to the death of his son/Chafy’s mistake leads to the death of his son L5: he doesn’t demand directly/he doesn’t ask directly L6: This Guyanese author used her life and country to implant the story of her novel/ Guyanese author used her life and country to foreground the story of her novel L6: could clearly be resume/ could clearly be summarized L7: it occurs in Nigeria/It takes place in Nigeria L7: They install the division/They implement the division L7: The oracle said them/The oracle told them L7: colonization doesn’t represent a progress/ colonization doesn’t imply a progress L7: during his research for Mister Kurtz/during his search for Mister Kurtz L8: the European sight of colonization/the European view on colonization L8: makes that he doesn’t go mad/ensures that he doesn’t go mad

L3: No changes are brought to the language/No changes are made to the language

3.4.3 Adverbs and adverbials

3.4.3.1 Misselection

Not many errors have been made against the proper selection of adverbs and adverbials, only

9 in the Ghent corpus and 4 in the Louvain essays. It needs to be stressed once more that the

selected and preferred adverb share a connection. That is why it is relatively easy to

reconstruct the intended word in the sentence.

G8: women are only regarded as full/women are only regarded as equal G8: women were considered as naïve and under-theorised/women were considered as naïve and uneducated G24: fast changing society/rapidly changing society G27: Frequently, the beginning consonants are repeated three to four times/Usually the beginning consonants are repeated three to four times G33: not at least on the thinkers/not in the least on the thinkers G47: very often be infatuated at once/very often be infatuated immediately G49: even since the beginning/ever since the beginning G54: to tear up the alliance between England and Spain so roughly/ tear up the alliance between England and Spain so abruptly G57: even since the beginning/ever since the beginning

L2: near the independence of Nigeria/close to the independence of Nigeria L2: It is no more an I-narrator/It is no longer an I-narrator L12: one time/once L32: more particularly a/more specifically a

3.4.4 Adjectives

3.4.4.1 Misselection

A relatively large number of students also misselected adjectives. 25 erroneous instances have

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been located in the Ghent corpus and 26 in the Louvain essays. The first three sets clearly

demonstrate how strong the influence of the respective L1 is. This not only holds true for

adjectives but also for nouns and verbs, as has been shown above. Remarkable here is that

students have once more selected words which carry the intended meaning but which are

inappropriate in that particular context.

G5: the best of the two struggling methods/the best of the two competing methods G27: because of the hindering nature of the disorder/because of the impeding nature of the disorder G27: the most known therapies are/the most renowned therapies are

G5: an apart symbol/a separate symbol G6: who take big decisions/who take important decisions G6: if they choose the latest option/if they choose the latter option G8: in a roar unsentimental way/in a raw unsentimental way G12: was given a vast blow/was given a huge blow G14: the most innovating novel/the most innovative novel G14: it would result in excessive publicity/it would result in abundant publicity G17: cynic remarks/cynical remarks G27: more common terms/more general terms G27: the escaping behaviour/the escapist behavior G33: While the main part of the writers/While the major part of the writers G34: we as readers are never aware of her conscientious planning/we as readers are never aware of her deliberate planning

L2:the sick man/the ill man L2: What is pointed here, it is the speakable rites/ What is pointed here, it is the oral rites L3: colonizing point of view/colonial point of view L3: the colonizing side/the colonial side L10: He had also female feelings/ He had also feminine feelings L15: the recurrent theme/the recurring theme L16: Their vocabulary is not large/Their vocabulary is not extensive L16: They have speakable rites/They have oral rites L17: The newest extract/the most recent extract L18: it is not comic/it is not comical L18: the opposite chronological order/the reverse chronological order L22: bloodcurling events/exhilarating events L23: chronologic order/chronological order L23: it is really confused to see/It is really confusing to see

Sometimes the influence of the L1 is not only confined to meaning. Two Louvain students

have inserted adjectives that greatly correspond with their French equivalents. These have

been added between brackets.

L13: occidental/European (occidentale) L18: contemporian drama/contemporary drama (contemporain)

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3.4.5 Prepositions

3.4.5.1 Omission

The biggest problematic category found in both corpora was related to the misselection,

omission and addition of prepositions in the grammar section. In this segment those instances

are dealt with in which prepositions have been omitted. These omissions cause a shift in

meaning, which is why they have been classified under this heading and not in the grammar

department. This shift in meaning can be profound and severe, like for example G50 and L53,

or it can be quite subtle, exemplified by G54 and L7. 4 such errors have been discovered in

the Ghent corpus and 5 in the Louvain essays.

G16: to hold fast to/to hold fast on to G50: The second element that brings the intended atmosphere/The second element that brings about the intended atmosphere G50: seduction is brought by the cruel/seduction is brought about by the cruel G54: to get trouble with/to get in trouble with

L5: the importance of languages is pointed/the importance of languages is pointed out L7: But after some villagers agree the way of think/ But after some villagers agree to the way of think L10: he borrowed a lot but never paid his neighbours/he borrowed a lot but never paid back his neighbours L15: to open more people in the world to African culture/to open up more people in the world to African culture L53: who is become mad by the fact of being locked/who is become mad by the fact of being locked up

3.4.5.2 Addition

In some instances prepositions have also been added. The first student has linked the

preposition ‘on’ to the verb ‘to catch’. This is problematic in two ways: first of all, the

expression in English is ‘to catch fire’. In this respect the error could also have been listed in

the grammar section. However, I have opted to put it here as the meaning of ‘to catch’

changes with the addition of ‘on’. This is the second problem and one which I found to be

more meaningful: ‘to catch’ roughly means ‘to grab’. ‘To catch on’, on the other hand, refers

to ‘understanding after an explanation or demonstration has been provided’.

G22: the temple[…]caught on fire/the temple[…]caught fire

The second set of instances contains three errors which are all the same. The verb ‘to answer’

means ‘to provide information after a question has been asked’ but ‘to answer to’ signifies that

‘one has to explain one’s actions to a higher authority’. Three students were probably not

aware of this difference in meaning and have consequently added the preposition to the verb.

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L31: The prologue answer to the questions/ The prologue answer the questions L32: the prologue that answers to the wh-questions/the prologue that answers the wh-questions L44: it answers to the wh-questions/it answers the wh-questions

3.4.5.3 Misselection

The next two sets of errors show that some words take on different meanings when they are

complemented with a different preposition. These meanings that have been brought about by

the misselection of the preposition can differ greatly from the intended meaning, like G42 or

G50, or the difference can be minimal yet significant, like L26 and L49.

G11: invite the Saxons in Britain/invite the Saxons to Britain G25: get a hold over the/get a hold of the G32: Due to her mother, Mary studied Latin/Thanks to her mother, Mary studied Latin G42: only rarely passed through/only rarely passed on G50: he or she is fated to go under/to go down

L26: concerned by themes/concerned with themes L49: do not know what to do about their lives/do not know what to do with their lives

3.4.6 Particles

3.4.6.1 Omission

The errors in this section are probably due to inattentiveness. The negative particle ‘not’ has

been omitted, which makes the sentences positive. There are some clear indications however

that the author intended these sentences to be negative.

G17: Wilde could let go of his aestheticism/Wilde could not let go of his aestheticism G52: While some define it as typical British, others have doubts about their style conforming to traditional humoristic rules/ While some define it as typical British, others have doubts about their style not conforming to traditional humoristic rules

L1: These two culture are so different that they can live together/ These two culture are so different that they cannot live together

3.4.6.2 Addition

The ‘no’ in the next example is not really a negative particle but a negative article. It specifies

none of its noun. It has been added to this section because it also indicates negation. The

student here was mistaken in adding the ‘no’ because barely is already an indicator of a small

amount. ‘I barely have a voice’ means that the subject does not have a lot of volume to

accompany his or her voice. ‘I barely have no voice’ is erroneous in that the subject signals

that he or she has trouble keeping his or her voice down.

L17: barely have no voice/barely have a voice

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3.4.6.3 Misselection

There was one student who substituted the negative particle ‘not’ for the negative article ‘no’.

The rules state that ‘not’ should be used with nouns, or simply when words, clauses or

expressions have to be made negative. ‘No’ on the other hand is mostly used for verbs. It can

also appear before nouns but then it is emphatic and more informal.

G24: they are no full-fledged languages/they are not full-fledged languages G24: is no nutricious ground for dialects/is not a nutricious ground for dialects

3.4.6.4 Misordering

The final error in the category of vocabulary concerns the misordering of the negative

particle. The student may have wanted to avoid a split infinitive, which has been a topic of

debate over the last decades. Unfortunately for this student, the preposition ‘to’ is part of the

conjunction ‘so as to’, and therefore it cannot be moved around in the clause. This means that

the negation should come right after it.

G37: so as not to be lonely anymore/so as to not be lonely anymore

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3.4.7 Conclusion

Compared to the number of errors listed in the grammar category, the vocabulary section is

quite small. Only 16 percent of all errors in both corpora are related to vocabulary. This is

even less than the spelling segment.

It became apparent during the analysis that the students of both groups struggled with the

proper selection of verbs, nouns and adjectives. It was suggested that these errors constituted

paradigmatic substitutions which hold a close relationship between the selected and the

intended or preferred word. Misselection also seemed to be caused in both corpora by an

incomplete knowledge of the various contexts in which a word is appropriate. English is a

language with a fair level of nuance and a lot of students did not come across as being aware

of this.

Some instances of misselection were also caused by selection on the basis of analogy. Several

students opted to insert words that resembled the intended word. This resemblance may be

based on common graphemes or morphemes.

It was found that the native language of both groups still exerts a lot of influence. However,

this interference was stronger in the Louvain corpus as far as the selection of verbs, nouns and

adjectives was concerned. Some of these instances showed direct transfers of L1 words into

an English sentence.

The next section of the dissertation will discuss the stylistic errors that have been located in

both corpora.

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3.5 Style Establishing whether or not an error is stylistic is relatively straightforward when essays are

concerned. There are certain conventions which need to be respected. However, these essays

are different in one crucial way. The Ghent students had been given a deadline of a couple of

weeks in order to fully prepare whereas the Louvain group had to answer an exam question in

essay form. There is therefore a difference in assessment of style. Abbreviations and

contractions for example, were not tolerated in the Ghent essays but they did not seem a

problem for the Louvain professors, as these were more concerned with grammar, vocabulary

and structure than style. Blatant aberrations of style were of course not overlooked. A final

remark is that all corrections made are based on probable meaning and anticipated stylistic

correctness. These are suggestions and are by no means absolute. 2,34% of all errors in the

Louvain corpus were related to style as compared to the 9,50% in the Ghent essays. The

difference can be explained by the high number of abbreviations and contractions in the

Ghent corpus.

3.5.1 Repetition

Repetition occurs, as its name suggests, when words are repeated in such a way that it disturbs

the reader. This happens when he or she stops his or her train of thought during the reading of

a sentence because something feels amiss. 4 Ghent essays produced such an error. These

errors were noticed both by myself and the professors who corrected them.

G7:Its clear that after the factors I just described that/its clear that after the factors I just described, G22: and tactics, their tactics, their horses/and their tactics and horses G23: In contrast with Durham[…]in opposite with Durham, she/ Contrary to Durham, she G27: there are three basic characteristics[…]are repetitions, blocks and prolongations/there are three basic characteristics[…]: repetitions, blocks and prolongations.

L7 is a special case. The error here is that the writer makes use of double negation, which is

ungrammatical in Standard British English. It is however more and more accepted (not

standardized) in American English and African American Vernacular English. That is why this

error has been labeled a stylistic error and not a grammatical one, as it complies with the

syntax of sentences with a double negation.

L7: black men aren’t no more considered/black men are no longer considered (double negation)

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3.5.2 Abbreviations and contractions

There were abbreviations and contractions in the Louvain corpus. However, since the

professors themselves had not indicated these as errors, I did not feel inclined to label them as

such. The teachers are after all the people who set the standards and who have informed their

students about the specifications of an exam essay. With that having said, it was striking to

find 51 instances of abbreviations and contractions in the Ghent essays. Maybe the professors

had neglected or forgotten to tell the students that this was not allowed or maybe they had

assumed that the students were aware of this. A lot more contractions than abbreviations have

been listed. For a complete list of all the errors I refer to the addendum.

G2: that’s/that is

G5: doesn’t/does not

G5: it’s/it is

G5:aren’t/are not

G5:weren’t/were not

G5:didn’t/did not

G5:haven’t/do not have, have not

G5:they’re/they are

G5: wasn’t/was not

G5: there’s/there is

G6:it’s/it is

G7:don’t/do not

G8:don’t/do not

G9: He’s/He is

G10: Let’s/Let us

G10: can’t/cannot

G12: That’s/That is

G12: e.g./such as

G6: etc./and so on

G6: e.g./for example

G11: etc./and so on

3.5.3 Interjections

Interjections are instances in a text when the voice of the author breaks through the text. The

reader feels addressed in a way. This should be avoided as much as possible in scientific texts

and college essays. The Ghent corpus contains 4 such errors by 4 different students, the

Louvain essays produced 9 such instances by 9 different students. This number is quite high

considering there were 57 students in each group. Writing an exam essay on the other hand

requires the student to write both correctly with regard to content, grammar and vocabulary

but also convincingly to convey a point. This could be the reason for the intrusions made by

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the Louvain students.

G1: and let us not forget/It must not be forgotten G2: Yes, Wilde was/Wilde was indeed G8: Just think about Virginia Woolf/Virginia Woolf needs to be considered G10: Let’s ask ourselves if this was also the case/Was this also the case

L5: By the way/Furthermore L6: May such things make us thinking!/Hopefully they won’t go by unnoticed anymore L8: I found it a bit boring/... L12: By the way/Furthermore L25: I’m going to present you these extracts/These extracts will be presented L36: Let us analyse their characteristics/Their characteristics will be analysed L38: By the way/Furthermore L52: First I would like to tell that/It needs to be told first that L54: I mean, they’re talking about death

3.5.4 Punctuation

It was somewhat difficult to establish whether an error was due to addition of punctuation or

if it should be labeled as a stylistic error of punctuation. Only one error was found, in the

Ghent corpus, which was undoubtedly an example of the latter. The multitude of commas

interrupts the flow of the sentence and feels disturbing to the reader.

G9: died on January 12 1976, at age 85, from natural causes, in Wallingford/died on January 12 1976 at age 85 from natural causes in Wallingford

3.5.5 Questions

Questions are another form of interjection in which the barrier between the author and the

reader is breached. They may help to make the reader think or question his or her own views,

to estrange him like in Berthold Brecht’s plays or to address an important issue but the use of

questions should be avoided in essays, even more so when they are a reflection of the author’s

thoughts. In both corpora only 1 instance was found in which the student made use of a

question.

G10: And how about the saying: new masters, new laws?/the creed ‘new masters, new laws is applicable here as well

L33: What’s life in general?/It’s difficult to find out what life is about

3.5.6 Syntactic complexity

Syntactic complexity refers to the way in which the students made sentences or parts of

sentences needlessly difficult. What is remarkable is that most of the Ghent students made the

sentence more difficult on a purely grammatical level whereas the Louvain group seemed to

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lack in vocabulary knowledge, which may have spurred them to provide a description of the

word they needed. It should be noted that except for G54 and G23, all the instances, though

stylistically erroneous, are grammatically correct.

G1:the writing of women came to exist as a separate category of scholarly interest/the writing of women became a separate category of scholarly interest. G7:in the modern society of today/today’s modern society G33: authors started looking inside their own souls/authors started doing some soul-searching G39: tried to install the old English culture back/tried to reinstall the old English culture G54: Due to his becoming of that/Due to this G54: Because Elizabeth would not have been a legitimate child if Catholicism was the way since her mother’s marriage with Henry would have been illegal/If Catholicism had endured, Elizabeth would not have been a legitimate child since her marriage with Henry would have been illegal

L16: a place of judgment/a courthouse L23: as the title make it suppose/as the title presupposes L36: The 20th century will make grow/The 20th century will foster

3.5.7 Misselection

The difference with 2.5.6 is that in this segment all the sentences are grammatically and

semantically correct but the words that have been selected are inappropriate for the essay

genre. They are too colloquial and that is why they have been listed below. 10 Ghent students

seemed to feel a bit too comfortable writing their piece. The expressions and words used

indicate a greater familiarity with English, although the feel for the context could be subjected

to improvement. One Louvain student also made an error in this respect.

G2: a big no-no/frowned upon G12:another punch in the face/another embarrassment G13: reading was a social thing/reading was a social occasion G21:it is in fact a drag/it is in fact a routine G31: For sure/definitely G32:who did not want to throw in the towel/who did not want to give up G36: they do not put up with these references lightly/they do not take these references lightly G38: reputation[…] on the line/reputation[…]at stake G39: after he got fed up with Anne/after the relationship with Anne was outlived G55: to do away with him/to dispose of him

L36: Beckett’s fun-like Waiting for Godot/Beckett’s humoristic Waiting for Godot

3.5.8 Inappropriate style

The following list of errors have more to do with an inner feeling that they somehow should

have been adjusted to fit the essay genre. They can be considered as the odd ones out. They do

not violate any important rules (except for G9, G29 and G39, the use of first names is not

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allowed in essays unless last names or titles are unknown) but these instances make the reader

feel uneasy.

G9: Agatha earned the title/Christie earned the title G29: Jane knew/Austen knew G39: Henri and Catherine/Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

G11: They also came up with some warriors/They also discovered some warriors G21:a name that probably does not ring a bell/a name that probably is unknown G24: the negative attitude towards dialects will make them history/the negative attitude towards dialects will make them disappear

G21: a mere journalistic work/a journalistic work G30: As if one can really touch him/He can never really be touched G44: It sounded pretty cool/It had a nice ring to it G47: his ever so relevant issues/his relevant issues

L23: a light, happy story/a light-hearted story

L34: the main characters are gonna die

3.5.9 Enigmas

A last category is labeled ‘enigmas’. Due to the fact that I have not yet mastered French there

are three errors in the Louvain corpus which puzzled me and for which I could not find an

explanation, nor could I attribute a source to them. They must have something to do with

sentence structure, mixed with an incorrect word choice but as French is not my mother

tongue I was unable to categorize these properly:

L31: Jerry is dicover of writer L33: no need to use too much thing for living L43: as far as it is the prologue

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3.5.10 Conclusion

Only 2.4 percent of all errors in the Louvain corpus are linked to the category of style, as

opposed to almost 10 percent of the errors in the Ghent essays. The reason for the difference

lies in the assessment of abbreviations and contractions. The Ghent professors had been very

strict in correcting these, while they did not form an obstacle to the Louvain teachers.

Determining whether an error is a matter of style is somewhat subjective and arbitrary. It was

helpful to know the conventions that surround the essay genre to classify some of the errors

but most of the time the classification was based upon a ‘sense of style’.

As has been mentioned before, the greatest difference between the two groups lies in the

assessment of contractions and abbreviations. While they had not been viewed as problematic

in the Louvain corpus, they were labeled as aberrant in the Ghent corpus. 51 of these

instances have been found.

A second and final difference is linked to syntactic complexity. Most, if not all, Ghent

students made their sentences needlessly difficult on a grammatical level. The Louvain

essayists on the other hand made their sentences more complex on a vocabulary level. Instead

of using the proper noun, they seemed to describe it or attempted to indicate its meaning.

The number of stylistic errors pales in comparison to grammar, spelling and vocabulary. It

was however a useful category for classification in general.

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4 General conclusions From the onset this research has attempted to answer three questions: first, is there a

difference in English proficiency between students in Belgium with French as their native

language and students who have Dutch as a mother tongue. Second, is there a difference

between the students regarding the problematic areas and third, if there is such a difference,

what could the possible explanations be?

It has become clear during the study that, based on the total number of errors, both groups are

equally proficient in English. These figures, although based on extensive data collection, are

nonetheless somewhat relative since there was a difference in the length of the essays. The

Ghent corpus consisted of essays for which the students were required to write a minimum of

1000 words. The Louvain essays were written during an exam and the word limit had been set

to around 400. This detail however does not diminish the importance of the students’ effort

and achievement.

As for the second and third research question, several important conclusions are drawn below.

20 percent of the total number of errors for both corpora was found in the category of

spelling. This category has been neglected in EA for a long time but it is clear from this study

that it still poses a threat to mastery of the L2. The research showed that the Ghent students

made more errors against the formation of compound words. On more than several occasions

were hyphens added to compounds that did not require them. Most of the spelling lapses were

also located in the Ghent corpus (23 versus 13). This result was quite puzzling since that

group had a spell check at their disposal, unlike the Louvain students. The latter group did not

make many errors against compound nouns and it was suggested that avoidance strategies

may be at the root of this. It is likely that the students would try to avoid using words that they

were not sure of so as to not lose marks on the exam. A relatively big problem for these

students was to determine when a verb or a noun needed a double or a single consonant. They

also erroneously substituted capitalized letters for non-capitalized letters in adjectives and

nouns that have to do with languages or geography. French does not use capital letters for

these but English does. A final conclusion regarding spelling is that the Louvain students

experienced more difficulties with letters that are written but not pronounced, especially the

silent –w and –h.

It is undeniably true that grammar remains the most problematic category for all students.

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Around 60 percent of all errors for both populations were committed against it. It was found

that the French speaking students had more trouble with pluralization of nouns. A lot of the

time they opted for a singular form instead of a plural. There was also a high amount of

misselections present. The Ghent students had a tendency to substitute nouns with their

adjectival forms whereas the Louvain essays showed a greater propensity toward the

substitution of nouns with their verb forms. It was hypothesized that this could have happened

due to the arbitrary and seemingly random nature of word derivation.

Another difference concerns articles. The Louvain essays revealed that students would more

readily either omit or add definite articles. Addition of definite articles also appeared regularly

in the Ghent essays, but not omission. The cause for both was very likely to be L1

interference.

A feature both groups had in common was that there were quite a few misselections of

relative pronouns. Students did not seem aware of the rules regarding the use of ‘who’,

‘which’ or ‘that’. Other than that not a lot of errors were found against pronouns.

Several Louvain students made a fair amount of errors against adjective-noun agreement,

which English does not have. In these instances an –s was added to the adjective in order to be

in concordance with the number of the noun. This is obviously due to L1 interference.

Adverbs proved a bit more problematic for both groups. The Ghent group would often

substitute an adverb for its adjectival form, the cause of which could either be L1 interference

or the fact that Dutch does not have a separate system to indicate an adverbial purpose.

Furthermore, and joined by the Louvain group in this, it was found that the Ghent students

experienced problems with the ordering of adverbs in a sentence, especially those that take

mid-position. Common adverbs like ‘also’, ‘still’ and ‘always’ were also put in the wrong

position.

Both groups struggled with their tenses, especially the past ones. With respectively 88 errors

in the Ghent essays and 40 in the Louvain corpus it has been discovered that this is one of the

biggest problem areas for students from both sides of Belgium. Another difficult issue for the

Louvain students was the concordance between subject and verb. In most of the instances a

plural form of the verb was selected for the third person singular. This may again have been

caused by L1 interference, as French only adds an –s to the second person singular and not the

third person. A final problem that has emerged is that both groups still have problems with the

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formation of the past simple and the past participle. This does not only apply to irregular

verbs but the Louvain students also seemed to struggle with the past participle of regular

verbs. Some of the Ghent students on the other hand still made such a basic mistake like

adding a past verb form after ‘did’.

The biggest problem for both groups is related to the misselection of prepositions. Each

population made around 80 errors in this area. An explanation for this could be the influence

of their respective native languages. For the Louvain students specifically, it was

hypothesized that they have it even more difficult since there are about two to three different

English equivalents for every single French preposition. Those English equivalents each have

their own nuance and context in which they can be used. If students are not aware of these

conventions than they cannot hope to employ prepositions properly. A difference between the

two groups is that the Ghent essays provided more instances in which prepositions had been

omitted, both for verbs and nouns.

Conjunctions were less problematic but there were errors nonetheless. Both populations had

trouble distinguishing the difference between the subordinating conjunction ‘as’ and the

preposition ‘like’ when trying to make a comparison. A particular problem that was specific

for some of the Ghent students was the misselection of linking words. The first-years

managed to select conjunctions that more or less shared the same meaning with the intended

words but these selections were no doubt erroneous.

The category of vocabulary surprisingly only took up around 16 percent of the total

percentage of errors in the research, for both groups. The analysis revealed a high amount of

errors regarding the misselection of verbs, nouns and adjectives. It was claimed that these, in

line with the work on semiotics by Ferdinand De Saussure, could be considered as

paradigmatic substitutions which maintain a close relationship with each other. The roots of

this misselection process may very well lie in the incomplete knowledge of both student

groups regarding the various contexts in which some words can only be used. Several

students have also opted for words that resemble the preferred or intended noun, verb or

adjective because they share certain morphemes or graphemes. A final explanation is once

again connected to L1 interference. Some students have simply translated the Dutch word in

English without consideration for its appropriateness.

Style has become the least important category after the analysis. Only 2,5% of all Louvain

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errors and 9,5% of all Ghent errors were attributed to style. The Ghent students were probably

not aware of the conventions surrounding an essay since almost every error was connected to

the use of a contracted form or abbreviation, which is not acceptable. Some of them also made

their sentences needlessly complicated on a syntactical level. Several Louvain students on the

other hand made the sentences more complex by providing roundabout descriptions of the

word that they intended to use but could not come up with.

These results were highly satisfactory in that they were very surprising. Several of my

expectations were thwarted while others were met. The data also provided a better insight into

the problem areas for L2 learners who are either native speakers of Dutch or French. This

study is somewhat unique in that it is one of the first to have made a comparative error

analysis in which three different languages were involved. All the data stems from contrasting

a Romanic language and a Germanic language. It could also yield interesting results to pit two

Germanic languages against each other in their mastery of a third language.

There were however limitations to the study. First of all, the essays collected from both

groups differed in word length. It is entirely possible that different results would have been

obtained had all the essays been equally long. Furthermore, in order to gain a complete insight

in the differences in English proficiency between Dutch and French learners, essays would

have to be collected from every university on both sides of the language barrier. There may

very well be differences between provinces and it would be interesting to point these out as

well.

A third limitation to this study is the fact that only 114 essays have been investigated. The

more data a researcher is able to gather, the more reliable his or her study will be. The

advancement of knowledge is necessary after all.

1

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1

Addendum 1: Louvain-La-Neuve

Overview errors

Spelling(183 or 21,43%)

1) Compounds(11)

L4: an other way/another way L6: can not/cannot L7: a mad man/a madman L8: a tragic down-fall/a tragic downfall L12: some thing/something L18: eachother/each other L22: cold-blooded L23: eachother/each other L38: open-air/open air L47: mad man/madman L56: policeofficers/police officers

2) Punctuation marks(8)

2.1 Omission

L1: an I narrator/an I-narrator L1: the natives representation/the native’s representation L17: Conrads biography/ Conrad’s biography L38: his non linear/ his non-linear L38: Godot without coming betray Vladimir and Estragon/Godot, without coming, betray Vladimir and Estragon L44: reversal of the chronological time we go backward and when/ reversal of the chronological time. We go backward and when L46: Joyces book/Joyce’s book L49: eighty-four years old man/ eighty-four-years-old man

2.2 Addition(9)

L12: but in both cases: our rhythm of reading/but in both cases our rhythm of reading L16: At this time, there are still pilgrims and cannibals who live there/ At this time there are still pilgrims and cannibals who live there L16: During this period, scores of things change/ During this period scores of things change L20: during the scene with the nurse, the reader knows more than the characters/ during the scene with the nurse the reader knows more than the characters L30: taken from Shakespeare’s famous play: Romeo and Juliet/taken from Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet L37: could be related to the first extract because of the tragedy genre, although this one is a tragic comedy/ could be related to the first extract because of the tragedy genre although this one is a tragic comedy L47: In this short story, there are/In this short story there are L56: beginning of the short story: Tell-Tale-Heart/beginning of the short story Tell-Tale-Heart

2

L56: In this extract, the reader is addressed/In this extract the reader is addressed

2.3 Misselection(22)

L3: african languages/African languages L4: african words/African words L4: english/English L5: in things fall apart/in Things Fall Apart L6: african people/African people L12: Irony/irony L15: Things fall apart/Things Fall Apart L18: english/English L19: which appears in the History/ which appears in the history L24: The genre it belongs to is Drama/ The genre it belongs to is drama L25: The renaissance period/the Renaissance period L27: the main caracteristics of the tragedy, other characteristics/ the main caracteristics of the tragedy. Other characteristics L28: english/English L29: elisabethan times/Elizabethan times L29: beckett/Beckett L29: “waiting for godot”/”Waiting for Godot” L29: emma’s rebellion/Emma’s rebellion L37: go through; But love will always be/ go through. But love will always be L43: Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, at the end, the two main characters die/ Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. At the end, the two main characters die L52: “the tell-tale heart”/” the Tell-tale Heart” L52: an american author/an American author L52: a british novel/a British novel

3) Errors caused by the non-phonetic nature of English

3.1 Letters written but not pronounced(19)

L6: interupts/interrupts L7: wich/which L9: writen/written L13: realy/really L17: caracters/characters L17: comits/commits L18: comiting/committing L22:dialogs/dialogues L23: commited/committed L27: caracters/characters L31: we can make a parralels/ we can make a parallels L34: wich/which L35: clas/class L37: noticable/noticeable L37: comon/common L43: althoug/although L50: suspens/suspense L54:planed/planned

3

L57: hose/whose

3.2 Sounds with more than one representation in writing(8)

L13: It’s more a reflexion that an answer/ It’s more a reflection that an answer L22: phylosophical/philosophical L28: connexions/connections L28: connextions/connections L36: beeing/being L38: suspence/suspense L47: narrater/narrator L56: appearences/appearances

3.3 Homophony(3)

L2: Their are unnamed/They are unnamed L18: there acts/their acts L30: presents to men who/presents two men who

4) Errors caused by differences between the sound systems of target language and native language(2)

L21: pregnand/pregnant L33: deasaster/disaster

5) Analogy

5.1 Phonetic analogy(7)

L17: Guynea/Guinee L32: titel/title L35: middel/middle L38: rimes/rhymes L48:dubbel/double L56: narrathor/narrator L56: buildingsroman/bildungsroman

5.2 Orthographic analogy

5.3 Overgeneralization of a spelling rule(5)

L1: believes/beliefs L6:believes/beliefs L12: believes/beliefs L44: believes/beliefs L51: three lines farer he is calm/three lines further he is calm

6) Errors that may be attributed to the relatively inconsistent and arbitrary nature of English word derivation(5)

L6: intrusers/intruders L7:Christianism/Christianity

4

L25: the silents and pauses/the silences and pauses L31: differencies/differences L31: similities/similarities

7) Interference errors

7.1 Interference from the mother tongue(53)

L1: personnal/personal L1: depravation/deprivation L1: These two culture are so differents/ These two culture are so different L2: Finaly/Finally L2: plat characters/flat characters L5: maneer/manner L6: habitants/inhabitants L6: deshumanize/dehumanize L6: renforced/reinforced L7: ennemies/enemies L8: mentionned/mentioned L11: deshumanized/dehumanized L12: traduction/translation L12: dictionnary/dictionary L13: finaly/finally L14: desparate/desperate L17: missionaire/missionary L18: totaly/totally L19: the different stades of a love relationship/the different stages of a love relationship L21: confronte the betrayal/confront the betrayal L22: Greec plays/Greek plays L23: ennemy/enemy L24: feodal period/feudal period L25: Aristote/Aristotle L28: langage/language L29: ressemblance/resemblance L29: questionning/questioning L30: rivality/rivalry L30: linguage/language L31: ressemblances/resemblances L31: developped/developed L32: essai/essay L32: restaured/restored L32: tragiecomedie/tragicomedy L32: renverse/reverse L35: ennemies/enemies L36: developement/development L36: finaly/finally L36: developping/developing L38: in comparaison/in comparison L38: maneer/manner L39: epoque/epoch L43: appartement/apartment

5

L43: litterature/literature L45: independant/independent L47:imprisonned/imprisoned L47: she adresses/she addresses L48: parallele/parallel L48: we have here a vocabular/we have here a vocabulary L49: remplacement/replacement L50: the narrator adresses/the narrator addresses L52: objectif/objective L55: adressing to/addressing to

7.2 Interference from other languages(6)

L24: theses plays/these plays L32: hero’s/heroes L32: the orde is/the order L32: friendschip/friendship L52: prosa/prose L56: prosa/prose

7.3 Other(2)

L47: unrealible/unreliable L47: realible/reliable

8) Lapses(13)

L4: she is half English and hal Guyanese L6: Chico is the unknow narrator L11: between 1900 an 1950/between 1900 and 1950 L12: in the the story/in the story L13: it’s better so be direct/it’s better to be direct L14: Marlow is telling is story/Marlow is telling his story L16: who came to colonialized them/who came to colonialize them L26: Pauses and silence and central in this/Pauses and silence are central in this L33: writter/writer L34: writter/writer L36: a strory/a story L49: reffer to/refer to L55: Jane decribed her/Jane described her

6

Grammar(521 or 60,92%)

1) Nouns

1.1 Misselection(49)

L1: These two culture are/These two cultures are L1: The three story show/The three stories show L2: In Heart of Darkness you have no contacts between/ In Heart of Darkness you have no contact between L2: the African are called/the Africans are called L3: These colonized people are completely seen as inferior human/These colonized people are completely seen as inferior humans L4: a respond to Heart of Darkness/a response to Heart of Darkness L5: Ibo people have conversation/Ibo people have conversations L6: As a respond to Conrad/As a response to Conrad L11: the African are/the Africans are L11: Achebe names the African and gives them with this name an own identity/ Achebe names the African[s] and gives them with this[these] names an own identity L12: It’s thanks to his experience that he can write about colonizations/ It’s thanks to his experience that he can write about colonization L12: there are no name/there are no names L13: we can see the different way of speaking and thinking/we can see the different ways of speaking and thinking L14: laugh is a form of expression/laughter is a form of expression L20: extracts come from different genre/extracts come from different genres L20: the different social class/the different social classes L20: It is a kind of absurd situations/It is a kind of absurd situation L23: their families are ennemy/their families are enemies L23: In both extracts couple have problems/In both extracts couples have problems L28: certain people and their problem/certain people and their problems L30: beginning of the 17th centuries/beginning of the 17th century L31: come from different period/come from different periods L31: come from different family/come from different families L31: The hero are ordinary people/the heroes are ordinary people L31: we can make a parralels/we can make a parallel L35: lots of symbol/lots of symbols L35: they can’t love each other because of their family/ they can’t love each other because of their families L35: this tend to play with the time has an effect/this tendency to play with the time L35: those extract/those extracts L35: in term of themes/in terms of themes L38: with this absurd the reader has to/with this absurdity the reader has to L38: contains a main difference such as his chronological reverse/ contains a main difference such as his chronological reversal L38: his non linear/his non linearity L38: the theme resolve around love and betray/ the theme resolve around love and betrayal L39: Shakespeare gives us the proofs/Shakespeare give us the proof L39: all was only doubts/all was only doubt L42: we get different kind of betrayals/we get different kinds of betrayals

7

L45: a Spanish women/a Spanish woman L46: at some points/at some point L48: the hate of ourselves/the hatred of ourselves L49: It is one of the best illustration/It is one of the best illustrations L49: eighty-four years old man/eighty-four year old man L52: one of the aspect we can see/one of the aspects we can see L52: one of Gabriel’s epiphany/ one of Gabriel’s epiphanies L52: two I-narrator/two I-narrators L53: with regards to the narration/with regard to the narration L55: We see the action through the eye of Jane, we saw how she feels/ We see the action through the eyes of Jane, we saw how she feels L57: uses his acknowledges to write about/uses his knowledge to write about L57: This reverse makes the reader/This reversal makes the reader

1.2 Omission(3)

L23: to make laugh/to make people laugh L38: having no aim and no logical./having no aim and no logical order. L50: gothic are present/gothic elements are present

2 ) Articles

2.1 Omission(19)

L1: The Igbo culture was the only thing that makes them clan/ The Igbo culture was the only thing that makes them a clan L4: Africa is not Heart of Darkness/Africa is not a Heart of Darkness L6: goes to Congo/goes to the Congo L7: occurs in Congo/occurs in the Congo L10: the story occurs in Congo/the occurs in the Congo L12: he is inspired by the colonization of Congo by Belgium/ he is inspired by the colonization of the Congo by Belgium L12: possess lot of lands/possess a lot of lands L14: the message passes easily though reader’s mind/the message passes easily through the reader’s mind L16: the uncharted places of Congo/the uncharted places of the Congo L17: All main characters are/All the main characters are L22: Bible is often mentioned/The Bible is often mentioned L22: mark the evolution of theater plays and author’s vision/mark the evolution of theater plays and the author’s vision L26: and Bible has no authority anymore/and the Bible has no authority anymore L28: lot of differences/ a lot of differences L34: In most of dramas/In most of the dramas L40: a comedy of absurd/a comedy of the absurd L40: give access to his play to lowest classes/give access to his play to the lowest classes L42: are talking about past, we feel that/are talking about the past, we feel that L56: was written in 1600’s/was written in the 1600’s

2.2 Addition(54)

L2:there you have a contact between/there you have contact between

8

L3: from the Conrad’s novel/from Conrad’s novel L3: part of the african culture/part of african culture L3: has been written the last/has been written last L4: an hierarchy in the language/ an hierarchy in language L5: The art of the conversation/The art of conversation L7: to inculcate them the Christianism/ to inculcate them Christianism L7: The colonization doesn’t/Colonization doesn’t L7: colonization doesn’t represent a progress/ colonization doesn’t represent progress L11: the atmosphere of the colonial imperialism/ the atmosphere of colonial imperialism L11: Achebe is against the colonialism and the imperialism/Achebe is against colonialism and imperialism L11: who fights against the weakness and against/who fights against weakness and against L12: The theme is also the colonization/The theme is also colonization L12: all is not black or white in a life/all is not black or white in life L12: a really large and specific words/really large and specific words L13: art of the conversation/art of conversation L13: Sometimes it’s better to be direct, sometimes have a long and beautiful conversation, sometimes use strong words and sometimes the silence is the best/ Sometimes it’s better to be direct, sometimes to have a long and beautiful conversation, sometimes to use strong words and sometimes silence is the best L13: sometimes the silence is the best/sometimes silence is best L14: the faith doesn’t exist anymore/faith doesn’t exist anymore L15: reference to the colonization itself/reference to colonization itself L15: destruction for the society/ destruction for society L16: but the things went in another way/ but things went in another way L17: Achebe shows very much the African culture/ Achebe shows very much African culture L17: return from the exile/return from exile L19: which appears in the History/which appears in History L20: The characters feel always threaten in the society/ The characters feel always threaten in society L25: the time which goes away and his effects/time which goes away and his effects L28: all the three passages/all three passages L31: less complicated that the Beckett’s theatre/less complicated that Beckett’s theatre L32: a pessimistic version of the life/a pessimistic version of life L33: The Bible is just a book among the others/The Bible is just a book among others L35: has developed in the time/has developed in time L35: how the time betray us/ how time betray us L36: Shakespeare’s theatre is destinied to the high society/ Shakespeare’s theatre is destinied to high society L38: the Becket’s Waiting for Godot/Becket’s Waiting for Godot L39: the actual English/actual English L41: A drama is a literary genre/Drama is a literary genre L42: end in a catastrophe/ends in catastrophe L44: it is a critic over the believes of the society/ it is a critic over the believes of society L46: It is a gothic fiction/It is gothic fiction L48: a wrong perception of the reality/a wrong perception of reality L48: the Rochester’s wife/Rochester’s wife L48: wrong idea of the reality/wrong idea of reality L48: but the doubt is not allowed/but doubt is not allowed L48: the fear of the others/fear of the others

9

L48: making fun of the life/making fun of life L50: the Edgar Allan Poe’s Tell-tale Heart/ Edgar Allan Poe’s Tell-tale Heart L50: the Jane Eyre’s discovering of/Jane Eyre’s discovering of L50: the James Joyce’s Dead/James Joyce’s Dead L51: which is a gothic fiction/which is gothic fiction L52: the main theme is the death/the main theme is death L52: the presence of the death/the presence of death L56: the colonialism/colonialism L56: makes an allusion to the Death/makes an allusion to Death L57: what they think is the best/what they think is best

2.3 Misselection(11)

L1: an european/a European L4: There is an foregrounding/There is a foregrounding L4: There is an hierarchy/There is a hierarchy L6: an European girl/a European girl L14: an human/a human L17: it’s a incest story/it’s an incest story L18: an Harold Pinter comedy/a Harold Pinter comedy L27: an Harold Pinter’s play/a Harold Pinter’s play L47: a I-narrator/an I-narrator L51: a exterioral narrator/an exterioral narrator L55: it is a internal focalization/it is an internal focalization

3) Pronouns

3.1 Personal pronouns

3.1.1 Misordering(1)

L48: which makes believes us/which makes us believe

3.1.2 Misselection(6)

L2: the presence of the British Empire even if he is well present/ presence of the British Empire even if it is well present L10: This one died/He died L16: They have speakable rites but it’s a bit strange/They have speakable rites but they are a bit strange L20: Characters talk about torturing another in front of this one/ Characters talk about torturing another in front of him L23: This one is separated/It is separated L44: Shakespeare and Beckett’s plays[…]but it criticizes a different aspect/ Shakespeare and Beckett’s plays[…]but they criticize a different aspect

3.1.3 Omission(5)

L15: some ambiguities are created by the language and sometimes lead the reader/ some ambiguities are created by the language and they sometimes lead the reader L23: makes believe that/makes them believe that L32: There are talking/They are talking

10

L34: there are good friends/they are good friends L34: there are in love/they are in love

3.2 Reflexive pronouns

3.2.1 Addition

3.2.2 Misselection(1)

L17: heself was/ he himself was

3.2.3 Omission(1)

L17: Even the story is fictional/Even the story itself is fictional

3.3 Possessive pronouns

3.3.1 Misselection(8)

L11: an African society with his fear of/an African society with its fear of L25: the time which goes away and his effects/ the time which goes away and its effects L31: Emma betrays his husband/Emma betrays her husband L37: ,,Waiting for Godot” is noticable for his dialogue/,,Waiting for Godot” is noticable for his dialogue L38: the reader, at its end/the reader, at his end L38: Betrayal contains a main difference such as his chronological reverse/Betrayal contains a main difference such as its chronological reverse L48: Charlotte Brontë[…], his feelings and his point of view/ Charlotte Brontë[…], her feelings and her point of view L56: Jane[…]: we know about his feelings and her story/ Jane[…]: we know about her feelings and her story

3.3.2 Omission(3)

L25: The tragedy had an origin/The tragedy has its origin L25: at Shakespeare period/at Shakespeare’s period L31: since Shakespeare time/since Shakespeare’s time

3.3.3 Addition(4)

L28: an Harold Pinter’s play/ an Harold Pinter play L44: has some elements of comedy’s/has some elements of comedy L44: the themes of Beckett’s/the themes of Beckett L45: upper-classes’s/upper- classes’

3.3.4 Misordering(1)

L55: wife’s Rochester/Rochester’s wife

3.4 Relative pronouns

3.4.1 Omission(3)

11

L23: After Romeo comes/After that Romeo comes L26: makes fun of the Bible and people relied on the Bible/ makes fun of the Bible and people who relied on the Bible L53: uses the words “nervous” and after “calmly”/ uses the words “nervous” and after that “calmly”

3.4.2 Misselection(8)

L5: What makes laugh Unoka/Which makes laugh Unoka L10: after the Berlin Conference, that deals with/ after the Berlin Conference, which deals with L12: beasts who/beasts that L13: the last extract who/the last extract which L34: the second extract who were written/the second extract which were written L46: stories where emotions are very present/stories wherein emotions are very present L51: a gothic novel where the narrator/a gothic novel wherein the narrator L56: the moment where Bertha Mason appeared to Jane Eyre/the moment when Bertha Mason appeared to Jane Eyre

3.4.3 Misordering

3.5 Dummy pronoun(4)

L4: it doesn’t exist any translation/there doesn’t exist any translation L32: they are only two people on stage/there are only two people on stage L33: it’s no need to use/there’s no need to use L37: and finally, that was in 1978 that ,,Betrayal” was written/and finally, it was in 1978 that ,,Betrayal” was written

3.6 Demonstrative pronoun

3.6.1 Misselection(5)

L11: Achebe names the African and gives them with this name an own identity/ Achebe names the African[s] and gives them with these name[s] an own identity L11: This three novels/These three novels L21: all this modern elements/all these modern elements L32: this names/these names L52: these novel was written/this novel was written

3.7 Indefinite pronoun(2)

L12: there aren’t good or bad people/there aren’t any good or bad people L16: there aren’t historical developments/there aren’t any historical developments

4) Adjectives

4.1 Addition

4.2 Misselection(15)

L4: the differents meanings/the different meanings

12

L9: the all book/the entire book L10: he becomes passioned by/he becomes passionate by L16: they felt in security/they felt secure L17: lasts words/last words L18: the passionated tragedy/the passionate tragedy L18: The mains characters/The main characters L20: They are quite differents/They are quite different L20: grotesques situations L25: extracts from the older which is/extracts from the oldest which is L25: died bodies/dead bodies L34: the mains characters/the main characters L34: could be related with the differents times/ could be related with the different times L48: intern-focalization/internal focalization L50: both well short stories/both good short stories

4.3 Misordering(4)

L9: use terms difficult/use difficult terms L12 the lands colonized/the colonized lands L20: Three genres very different/Three very different genres L56: a male narrathor omniscient/a male omniscient narrathor

4.4 Omission

5) Adverbs and adverbials

5.1 Misselection(12)

L3: a few time after/not long after L4: a part autobiographical/partly autobiographical L4: as clear as possible/as clearly as possible L7: But after/But afterwards L12: part-stranger/partly stranger L14: is definite like a conversation/is definitely like a conversation L14: In contrary with/Compared to L25: The third extract is the more recent/The third extract is the most recent L38: the theme is doubtless love against everything/the theme is doubtlessly love against everything L47: he goes direct to the point/he goes directly to the point L51: Once he is dreadfully nervous and three lines farer he is calm/First he is dreadfully nervous and three lines farer he is calm L56: Once he is nervous, later he is calm/First he is nervous, later he is calm

5.2 Misordering(26)

L2: We begin first/We first begin L4: The third extract shows clearly this foregrounding/The third extract clearly shows this foregrounding L10: He had also female feelings/He also had female feelings L12: There: Africans are the ‘good people’/Africans are the ‘good people’ there L15: they don’t need all the time modernization/they don’t need modernization all the time

13

L17: Achebe shows very much the African culture/Achebe very much shows the African culture L17: they also will be destroyed/the will also be destroyed L20:it represents very well the romantic tragedy/it represents the romantic tragedy very well L20: The characters feel always/The characters always feel L20: represents very well the comedy of menace/ represents the comedy of menace very well L21: It deals also with/It also deals with L21: they betray also/they also betray L24: The theatre companies were then sedentary/The theatre companies then were sedentary L26: we have first/we first have L26: The story has also/The story also has L31: They have also/They also have L38: Waiting for Godot represents also/Waiting for Godot also represents L39: Shakespeare makes also use/Shakespeare also makes use L41: A tragedy often is a play/A tragedy is often a play L41: we also find here awkward scenes/we also find awkward scenes here L41: Dramas have still much to offer/Dramas still have much to offer L43: they all are from plays/they are all from plays L47: he gives us only/he only gives us L50: the narrator adresses immediately to the reader/the narrator immediately adresses to the reader L50: he does not know anymore who he is/ he does not know who he is anymore L56: Gabriel presents always ambivalent feelings/Gabriel always presents ambivalent feelings

5.3 Omission

6) Verbs

6.1 Omission(1)

L15: The Ventriloquist’s Tale by Pauline Melville in 1997/The Ventriloquist’s Tale written by Pauline Melville in 1997

6.1.1 Concord between subject and verb(44)

L1: Conrad forget to/Conrad forgets to L1: that’s why the Igbo culture die/ that’s why the Igbo culture dies L1: the colonization drive people mad/the colonization drives people mad L3: Heart of Darkness obviously completely demote them/ Heart of Darkness obviously completely demotes them L5: the author Achebe make us/the author Achebe makes us L5: he practise the art of conversation/he practises the art of conversation L11: This woman like the opinion of/This woman likes the opinion of L12: all the things and everybody has a specific name/all the things and everybody have a specific name L12: beasts who grunts/beasts who grunt L12: the white people who makes them/the white people who make them L13: hate to the savage[…]lead/ hate to the savage[…]leads L13: and when he talk/and when he talks L13: this make Unoha laugh a lot/this makes Unoha laugh a lot L13: Danny answer something/Danny answers something

14

L14: This book is the first one which contain/This book is the first one which contains L16: They comes from/They come from L18: the effects of the betrayal before it happen/the effects of the betrayal before it happens L19: great number of differences separates Beckett from Shakespeare/great number of differences separate Beckett from Shakespeare L21: there is a number of differences/there are a number of differences L23: The three extracts belongs to/The three extracts belong to L23: They plans everything/They plan everything L23: she stays with her husband and have children/she stays with her husband and has children L28: All of these plays deals with/All of these plays deal with L31: The prologue answer to the questions/The prologue answers to the questions L33: There is no specific words/There are no specific words L34: the second extract who were written/ the second extract who was written L34: Romeo and Juliet were written/Romeo and Juliet was written L34: The narrator answer all the questions/The narrator answers all the questions L34: The third extract were written[…] and have more political/The third extract was written[…] and has more political L35: The act of waiting[…]create a sort of tension/The acting of waiting[…]creates a sort of tension L35: Harold Pinter play with/Harold Pinter plays with L35: how the time betray us/ how the time betrays us L35: The language belong to/The language belongs to L35: it emphasize the communication problem/it emphasizes the communication problem L38: the reader[…]know more/the reader[…]knows more L38: the theme resolve around/the theme resolves around L38: Godot without coming betray Vladimir and Estragon/ Godot without coming betrays Vladimir and Estragon L41: there is no rhymes anymore/there are no rhymes anymore L42: Shakespeare and Pinter deals with the same themes/Shakespeare and Pinter deal with the same themes L48: There is a lot of themes/There are a lot of themes L48: There is a lot of possibilities/There are a lot of possibilities L51: This short story focus on/This short story focuses on L54: He imagine a scene/He imagines a scene L55: they both deals with/they both deal with

6.1.2 Omission of the future aspect

6.1.3 Omission of the perfect aspect

6.1.4 Omission of the progressive aspect

6.1.5 Omission of primary auxiliaries(6)

L16: they haven’t human rites/they don’t have human rites L21: the play have not/the play doesn’t have L27: the main caracteristics of the tragedy, other characteristics:/ the main caracteristics of the tragedy, other characteristics are: L41: It an unconventional literary work/It is an unconventional literary work L51: Jane very sincere and is/Jane is very sincere and is

15

L54: that still not happened/that still has not happened

6.1.6 Omission of modal auxiliaries

6.1.7 Omission of -ing participle(5)

L6: using Africa only as a background and deshumanize it/ using Africa only as a background and deshumanizing it L7: But after some villagers agree the way of think/ But after some villagers agree the way of thinking L8:to see a development in what concerns the view on black people/ to see a development concerning the view on black people L45: as regards marriage/regarding marriage L56: we hear the heart beat louder and louder/we hear the heart beating louder and louder

6.2 Misselection

6.2.1 Incorrect forms of simple past and past participle(19)

L1: Conrad will be criticize/Conrad will be criticized L2: presence of the British Empire even if he is well present/ presence of the British Empire even if he is well presented L5: these people are considerated/these people are considered L5: their kind of thought can be interprated in a negative way/ their kind of thought can be interpreted in a negative way L5: is considerated/is considered L6: this ambivalence is illustrate/this ambivalence is illustrated L6: could clearly be resume/could clearly be resumed L20: The characters feel always threaten/ The characters feel always threatened L22: his characters are weaken/his characters are weakened L30: Drama evoluated a lot/Drama evolved a lot L32: can be perform/can be performed L35: they could have find/they could have found L35: how we are confront with/how we are confronted with L36: Shakespeare’s theatre is destinied to the high society/ Shakespeare’s theatre is destined to the high society L37: evoluating/evolving L40: the play will be rewrite/the play will be rewritten L41: the order is restablished/the order is reestablished L44: Harold Pinter has bring/Harold Pinter has brought L51: she was imprison/she was imprisoned

6.2.2 Tenses(40)

L1: The Igbo culture was the only thing that makes them clan/ The Igbo culture was the only thing that made them clan L1: Now they are divided they are nothing/ Now they have been divided they are nothing L2: The book is written just after/The book was written just after L2: the author is born in Guyana/the author was born in Guyana L3: According to him, it would just be about voices/According to him, it’s just about voices L4: is published in the first years of the twentieth century/was published in the first years of

16

the twentieth century L4: Africa is foregrounding/Africa is foregrounded L6: the way the prologue and the epilogue are telling/the way the prologue and the epilogue are told L7: But after some villagers agree/But after some villagers agreed L10: after the Berlin Conference, that deals with/after the Berlin Conference, that dealt with L11: the African are deshumanised because they weren’t named/the African are deshumanised because they have not been named L12: It’s thanks to his experience that he can write about colonizations/ It’s thanks to his experience that he could write about colonizations L12: he is inspired by the colonization of Congo by Belgium/ he was inspired by the colonization of Congo by Belgium L12: it will be the same theme for the first extract/ it is the same theme for the first extract L16: At this time, there are still pilgrims and cannibals who live there/ At this time, there were still pilgrims and cannibals who live there L16: if he had stayed in his village, the people would never agree with the white men/ if he had stayed in his village, the people would never have agreed with the white men L16: but the things went in another way and Okonkwo has to leave his village/ but the things went in another way and Okonkwo had to leave his village L16: During this period, scores of things change/ During this period, scores of things changed L16: During this period, scores of things change. Schools, churches and a place of judgment were built/ During this period, scores of things change. Schools, churches and a place of judgment had been built L16: it was accepted by the people there and their ideas changed/it had been accepted by the people there and their ideas had changed L17: He dies without a title, hurting the rules of his religion which is very important for him/ He dies without a title, hurting the rules of his religion which had been very important for him L21: He is still loving his wife/he still loves his wife L23: when Romeo arrived, he believes Juliet was dead/ when Romeo arrived, he believed Juliet was dead L23: she finds Romeo dead and she also commited suicide/ she finds Romeo dead and she also commits suicide L23: he doesn’t give her what she is expected/he doesn’t give her what she expects L27: Shakespeare writes it during the Elizabethan age/Shakespeare wrote it during the Elizabethan age L33: we can notice that the characters are coming from the upper class/we can notice that the characters come from the upper class L35: Harold Pinter is inspired by Waiting for Godot for his play/Harold Pinter was inspired by Waiting for Godot for his play L36: These three extracts are representing/These three extracts represent L38: it doesn’t appears/it doesn’t appear L39: which has been written in 1597/which was written in 1597 L40: where the public is staying before and at the sides of the stage/ where the public stays before and at the sides of the stage L45: The only problem is that her family was against this/ The only problem was that her family was against this L49: The last extract from Betrayal is referring to the scene/The last extract from Betrayal refers to the scene L51: it’s the moment when Jane discovered/it’s the moment when Jane discovers L53: it is spoken of a “disease”/it speaks of a “disease”

17

L55: would he do that if he isn’t mad/would he do that if he weren’t mad L55: It’s the mad when she saw Bertha/It’s the moment when she sees Bertha L55: We see the action through the eye of Jane, we saw how she feels/ We see the action through the eye of Jane, we see how she feels L56: the moment where Bertha Mason appeared to Jane Eyre/ the moment where Bertha Mason appears to Jane Eyre

6.2.3 Auxiliaries(10)

L5: their kind of thought can be interprated in a negative way/ their kind of thought could be interprated in a negative way L6: should we have to mix?/do we have to mix? L10: He makes a female act/He does a female act L14: : the author doesn’t used the real name/the author hasn’t used the real name L21: the first can be an extract of drama/the first could be an extract of drama L25: he makes backwards/he goes backwards L30: That’s why some critics argue that Shakespeare would not be the real author/ That’s why some critics argue that Shakespeare could not be the real author L34: The third extract were written[…] and have more political/The third extract were written[…] and is more political L48: Bertha is maybe one dubble of Jane/Bertha could be one dubble of Jane L53: a human being who is become mad/a human being who has become mad

6.2.4 Infinitive, ing-participle and gerund(6)

L6: doing by the European people/done by the European people L6: It is a very literary effect using by/It is a very literary effect used by L6: May such things make us thinking/ May such things make us think L23: the way to write/the way of writing L32: make the reader thinking/make the reader think L38: seems having no aim/seems to have no aim

6.3 Misordering(14)

L2: after the Africa dividing/after the dividing of Africa L2: What is pointed here, it is the speakable rites/The speakable rites are described here L2: What is central in those different extracts, it is the different approaches L5: What makes laugh Unoka/What makes Unoka laugh L9: because what the most important is, it’s to give action/because what is most important is to act L11:tries to show to the readers a vision of African people a little more modern L17: which all are/which are all L19: The audience has greater knowledge than do the characters/The audience has greater knowledge than the characters do L20: The third extract, called ‘The New World one’, it is written by/ The third extract, called ‘The New World one’ is written by L25: I see in these three plays the language develop/ L25: I see the language develop in these three plays L36: from which also come the characters/from which the characters also come L38: Betrayal is as well complicated/Betrayal is complicated as well L40: they have all despair/they all have despair

18

L48: In this text, it is again a different form/There is a different form again in this text

7) Prepositions

7.1 Omission(13)

L4: to explain the reader/to explain to the reader L5: without listening each other/without listening to each other L8: he couldn’t adapt something new/he couldn’t adapt to something new L6: can’t imagine let african people alone/can’t imagine to let african people alone L14: they do not want lose/they do not want to lose L14: The last extract, astonishment is expressed, sadness too/In the last extract, astonishment is expressed, sadness too L15: Danny tries to explain him/Danny tries to explain to him L24: they are betraying each other not loving each other/ they are betraying each other by not loving each other L25: I’m going to present you these extracts/ I’m going to present you with these extracts L28: with short sentences, spoken english/with short sentences, in spoken English L46: some things prove us/some things prove to us L50: short story which the aim is/short story of which the aim is L52: all England is considered/all of England is considered

7.2 Misselection(84)

L1: he’s unaware about this/he’s unaware of this L2: Marlowe assists to the scene/Marlowe assists on the scene L2: approaches of the colonialization/approaches to the colonialization L3: in the end of the twentieth century/at the end of the twentieth century L4: from Joseph Conrad/by Joseph Conrad L4: an hierarchy in the language/an hierarchy of the language L6: different than in Europe/different from in Europe L6: vision of imperialism/vision on imperialism L6: revolting by/revolting against L7: who comes in their village/who comes to their village L7: attracted by Africa/attracted to Africa L8: the book dates to 1958/the book dates from L9: Heart of Darkness of Conrad/Heart of Darkness by Conrad L9: difference of vocabulary/difference in vocabulary L11: a novel from Joseph/a novel by Joseph L7: to make love with his sister/to make love to his sister L8: to go mad into the jungle/to go mad in the jungle L10: travels in Brussels/travels to Brussels L10: extracted by ‘Things Fall Apart’/extracted from ‘Things Fall Apart’ L15: lead the reader in a wrong interpretation/lead the reader to a wrong interpretation L26: written with a language/written in a language L11: think to a novel/think of a novel L11: to interest the reader about the life and the rules/the interest the reader in the life and the rules L11: he expresses that with showing/he expresses that by showing L12: it will be the same theme for the first extract/ it will be the same theme of the first extract

19

L12: obsessed to/obsessed with L13: hate to the savage/hate for the savage L13: adapted it at the case/adapted it to the case L14: People go in Wapisiana/People go to Wapisiana L14: take example on/take example from L14: but on chapter 10/but in chapter 10 L14: In opposition with/In opposition to L15: proverbs and tales are said by an oral way/ proverbs and tales are said in an oral way L15: a destruction for the society/a destruction to the society L16: they sleep on hammocks/they sleep in hammocks L16: the novel of Joseph Conrad/the novel by Joseph Conrad L17: He dies without a title, hurting the rules of his religion which is very important for him/ He dies without a title, hurting the rules of his religion which is very important to him L18: We are between the 15th and 16th century/ We are in the 15th and 16th century L18: kind with the blind/kind to the blind L18: unfaithfulnesses[…]comiting to eachother/ unfaithfulnesses[…]comiting against eachother L19: live at the same period/live in the same period L22: involved into a tragedy/involved in a tragedy L23: about 1593/around 1593 L23: In the same time/At the same time L25: a play of Harold Pinter/a play by Harold Pinter L25: an extract of ‘Betrayal’/an extract from ‘Betrayal’ L25: at Shakespeare period/in Shakespeare period L26: to get married with Paris/to get married to Paris L27: In the end of the play/ At the end of the play L32: In the beginning of the story/At the beginning of the story L33: the respect of life/the respect for life L34: to go in USA/to go to USA L34: some connections can be made of these 3 extracts/some connections can be made between these 3 extracts L34: for which I don’t know the name/of which I don’t know the name L34: could be related with the differents times/ could be related to the differents times L35: has for function/has as function L36: Shakespeare’s theatre is destinied to the high society/ Shakespeare’s theatre is destinied for the high society L37: at the contrary of the style/contrary to the style L38: At the difference of W. Shakespeare/The difference with W. Shakespeare L38: a dialogue between 2 characters into a language/a dialogue between 2 characters in a language L39: confronted to love/confronted with love L40: I will begin by the older extract/I will begin with the older contract L40: the reason of the play/the reason for the play L40: where the public is staying before and at the sides of the stage/ where the public is staying in front of and at the sides of the stage L40: at this period/in this period L40: the Nobel Prize of literature/the Nobel Prize in literature L40: of subgenres very different/as subgenres very different L44: it is a critic over the believes of the society/ it is a critic of the believes of the society L47: she is compared with/she is compared to

20

L47: “The Dead” of James Joyce/”The Dead” by James Joyce L47: Jane Eyre with Brontë/Jane Eyre by Brontë L48: the hate of ourselves/ the hate for ourselves L48: focalizations about different parts/focalizations on different parts L48: associated to this novel/associated with this novel L49: As I wrote upper, the anti-hero/As I wrote above, the anti-hero L50: she’s seen like something wild/she’s seen as something wild L50: in comparison with/in comparison to L51: nostalgic by remembering happy events/nostalgic from remembering happy events L53: As well as in Poe’s short story/Like in Poe’s short story L54: The focalization is like we were in front of him/The focalization is as if we were in front of him L56: Tell-Tale-Heart of Poe/ Tell-Tale-Heart by Poe L56: Jane Eyre of Brontë/Jane Eyre by Brontë L56: the first extract about Poe/the first extract by Poe L57: back during Shakespeare’s time/back in Shakespeare’s time

7.3 Misordering(1)

L57: about what is the story/what the story is about

7.4 Addition(9)

L10: Kurts abuses of his power/Kurtz abuses his power L16: but the things went in another way/ but the things went another way L23: permits at the readers/permits the readers L30: The main theme treats of different styles/The main theme treats different styles L31: she doesn’t tell to Jerry/she doesn’t tell Jerry L34: like in most of dramas/like in most dramas L50: the narrator adresses immediately to the reader/ the narrator adresses immediately the reader L55: the narrator is adressing to the reader/ the narrator is adressing the reader L56: the reader feels like in his feelings/the reader feels his feelings

8) Conjunctions

8.1 Omission(8)

L1: Now they are divided they are nothing/Now that they are divided they are nothing L8: He’s surprised there is no word for it/He’s surprised that there is no word for it L8:more action, suspense/more action and suspense L14: The last extract, astonishment is expressed, sadness too/ The last extract, astonishment is expressed and sadness too L16: they haven’t human rites, a religion, respect for the others/they haven’t human rites, a religion or respect for the others L23: when Romeo arrived, he believes Juliet was dead/ when Romeo arrived, he believes that Juliet was dead L29: emphasis on the plot, backstory, personality of the characters/emphasis on the plot, backstory and personality of the characters L56: The writer confesses he is mad/The writer confesses that he is mad

21

8.2 Addition(7)

L3: As in Things Fall Apart/Like in things fall apart L7: as in Things Fall Apart/like in things fall apart L9: not as the first and the third/not like the first and the third L12: made in 1899 whereas English was only the third language/made in 1899. English was only the third language L21: symbols are used to represent certain desires as the tablecloth/symbols are used to respresent certain desires like the tablecloth L33: the same problem as the others/the same problem like the others L44: As in Shakespeare’s play,/Like in Shakespeare’s play,

8.3 Misselection(9)

L4: in an other way that Conrad/in an other way than Conrad L12: There: Africans are the ‘good people’ when it’s the opposite in ‘Heart of Darkness/ There: Africans are the ‘good people’ whereas it’s the opposite in ‘Heart of Darkness L13: It’s more a reflexion that an answer/It’s more a reflexion than an answer L13: more meaningful that a loud conversation/more meaningful than a loud conversation L16: The men of the Congo have their own language and houses. Whereas a few white men went to the Congo with a steamer-boat/ The men of the Congo have their own language and houses. Even so, a few white men went to the Congo with a steamer-boat L18: In opposition to the previous extract/Contrary to the previous extract L31: less complicated that the Beckett’s theatre/less complicated than the Beckett’s theatre L54: But he doesn’t share it with everyone/However, he doesn’t share it with everyone

8.4 Misordering

22

Vocabulary (135 or 15,81%)

1) Nouns

1.1 Omission(2)

L6: an incest love between a brother and a sister/an incest love story between a brother and a sister L6: he is the son of incest/he is the son of an incest relationship

1.2 Addition

1.3 Misselection(30)

L1: with an aim question/with a target question L2: between European colonializations/between European colonial powers L2: the African tribute/the African tribe L2: It is the contrary of Heart of Darkness/It is the opposite of Heart of Darkness L3: the profound wealthiness and tradition of Igbo culture/ the profound wealth and tradition of Igbo culture L6: not only an african voice, it is also an african critic/not only an african voice, it is also an african criticism L7: the division begins/the separation begins L8: a writing-back to/a reference to L10: The passage deals with his dead/The passage deals with his death L11: The particularity of this novel/The peculiarity of this novel L12: makes some critics about Marlow/makes some criticisms about Marlow L13: like auto-destruction/like self-destruction L14: she is the part of feminism/she is the voice of feminism L15: language is a powerful arm/language is a powerful weapon L16: At this time, there are still pilgrims and cannibals who live there/ At this time, there are still pygmees and cannibals who live there L16: a form of thinking/a way of thinking L17: there are some relations to Conrads biography/there are some connections to Conrads biography L17: like the inacceptance of twins/like the rejection of twins L18: unfaithfulnesses/indiscretions L21: the reader’s questionnement/the reader’s judgment L26: paroles and words take a big place/speech and words take a big place L30: One of the specificity of this play/One of the specifics of this play L35: This particularity can emphasize a kind of communication problem/This element can emphasize a kind of communication problem L37: the main theme in this part of the book is questionnement/the main theme in this part of the book is judgment L38: In Shakespeare, in parallelism, both characters/ In Shakespeare, in comparison, both characters L39: a mass of differences/a lot of differences L40: it is a real critic of people at this period/ it is a real critique of people at this period L43: it is a critic of religion/it is a critique L44: it is a critic over the believes of the society/ it is a critique over the believes of the

23

society L49: “Hamlet” is a tragedy so every single event tends to lead the character to his lost/“Hamlet” is a tragedy so every single event tends to lead the character to his doom

1.4 Misordering(1)

L16: the Thames River/the river Thames

2) Verbs

2.1 Omission

2.2 Addition

2.3 Misselection(60)

L2: What is pointed here/What is described here L3: the language talked in this country/the language spoken in this country L3: Terms and proverbs aren’t adapted for Western civilized people/ Terms and proverbs aren’t translated for Western civilized people L3: No changes are brought to the language/No changes are made to the language L3: Heart of Darkness obviously completely demote them/ Heart of Darkness obviously completely denounces them L4: Chafy’s mistake conducts to the death of his son/Chafy’s mistake leads to the death of his son L5: he doesn’t demand directly/he doesn’t ask directly L6: This Guyanese author used her life and country to implant the story of her novel/ Guyanese author used her life and country to foreground the story of her novel L6: could clearly be resume/ could clearly be summarized L7: he will be aware/he will become aware L7: it occurs in Nigeria/It takes place in Nigeria L7: They install the division/They implement the division L7: The oracle said them/The oracle told them L7: colonization doesn’t represent a progress/ colonization doesn’t imply a progress L7: during his research for Mister Kurtz/during his search for Mister Kurtz L8: the European sight of colonization/the European view on colonization L8: makes that he doesn’t go mad/ensures that he doesn’t go mad L10: the story occurs in Congo/the story takes place in Congo L10: he wants to be titled/he wants to be knighted L11: a novel from Joseph Conrad speaks about/a novel from Joseph Conrad deals with(talks about) L12: made in 1899/written in 1899 L12: he makes some thing wrong/he does some thing wrong L12: Africans aren’t assimilated to beasts/Africans aren’t compared to beasts L12: our rhythm of reading is cut/our rhythm of reading is interrupted L12:to research a word in a dictionnary/to look up a word in a dictionary L12: vocabulary that we can see every day/vocabulary that we can come across every day L14: the story puts in evidence/the story provides evidence L15: proverbs and tales are said by an oral way/ proverbs and tales are told by an oral way L15: evangelise the Wapisiana to a new religion/convert the Wapisiana to a new religion L15: The story occurs in Guinea/The story takes place in Guinea

24

L15: The arrival of father Napier conducts the Wapisiana civilization/ The arrival of father Napier leads the Wapisiana civilization L15: they want to conserve it/they want to preserve it L15: because it destructs all the systems/because it destroys all the systems L17: He dies without a title, hurting the rules of his religion which is very important for him/ He dies without a title, breaking the rules of his religion which is very important for him L18: to emotionate people/to touch people L22: reinversing chronological order/reversing chronological order L24: This play stands two men/This play features two men L24: analysis of our current society, enlightening good or bad aspects/ analysis of our current society, highlighting good or bad aspects L25: the action is settled by the prologue/the action is set by the prologue L26: even contents dramatic irony/even contains dramatic irony L26: makes that the audience knows better/ensures that the audience knows better L30: writing was considered in a very bad way/writing was looked upon in a very bad way L31: They spoke about religious questions/They talked about religious questions L31: we can make a parralels/ we can draw a parallels L32: Another connection that can be done/Another connection that can be made L37: the development will try to poke/the development will try to discover L38: Betrayal by Harold Pinter sees the day in the 20th century/ Betrayal by Harold Pinter was created in the 20th century L38: the theme resolve around love and betray/the theme revolves around love and betray L38: these three extracts achieve existential questions/these three extracts raise existential questions L38: Shakespeare often treats about the when/Shakespeare often deals with the when L39: The end of the story lets the reader a feeling of sadness/The end of the story gives the reader a feeling of sadness L39: Juliet drank a poison to seem dead/Juliet drank a poison to look dead L40: They all take a grudge/They all have a grudge L41: evoluate the genre/evolve the genre L45: I have just tempted to/I have just attempted to L46: see how Jane fells/see how Jane feels L51: it’s a gothic novel by putting an atmosphere of darkness/it’s a gothic novel by presenting an atmosphere of darkness L51: this room which remembers her/this room which reminds her L51: The first extract comes out from the three/The first extract stands out from the three L52: First I would like to tell that/First I would like to say that

3) Adverbs and adverbials

3.1 Omission

3.2 Addition

3.3 Misselection(4)

L2: near the independence of Nigeria/close to the independence of Nigeria L2: It is no more an I-narrator/It is no longer an I-narrator L12: one time/once L32: more particularly a/more specifically a

25

4) Adjectives

4.1 Misselection(26)

L2:the sick man/the ill man L2: What is pointed here, it is the speakable rites/ What is pointed here, it is the oral rites L3: colonizing point of view/colonial point of view L3: the colonizing side/the colonial side L10: He had also female feelings/ He had also feminine feelings L13: occidental/European L15: the recurrent theme/the recurring theme L16: Their vocabulary is not large/Their vocabulary is not extensive L16: They have speakable rites/They have oral rites L17: The newest extract/the most recent extract L18: contemporian drama/contemporary drama L18: it is not comic/it is not comical L18: the opposite chronological order/the reverse chronological order L22: bloodcurling events/exhilarating events L23: chronologic order/chronological order L23: it is really confused to see/It is really confusing to see L26: paroles and words take a big place/ paroles and words take an important place L36: The vocabulary used is quite formal and researched/The vocabulary used is quite formal and artificial L38: possess numeral connections/possess numerous connections L39: the actual English/the current English L39: This theme is very shaking/This theme is very moving L48: It is very interessant/It is very interesting L51: a exterioral narrator/a external narrator L54: a light difference/a slight difference L54: give the reader quite close feelings/give the reader quite intimate feelings L57: The time is reverse/The time is reversed

5) Prepositions

5.1 Omission(5)

L5: the importance of languages is pointed/the importance of languages is pointed out L7: But after some villagers agree the way of think/ But after some villagers agree to the way of think L10: he borrowed a lot but never paid his neighbours/he borrowed a lot but never paid back his neighbours L15: to open more people in the world to African culture/to open up more people in the world to African culture L53: who is become mad by the fact of being locked/who is become mad by the fact of being locked up

5.2 Addition(3)

L31: The prologue answer to the questions/ The prologue answer the questions L32: the prologue that answers to the wh-questions/the prologue that answers the wh-questions

26

L44: it answers to the wh-questions/it answers the wh-questions

5.3 Misselection(2)

L26: concerned by themes/concerned with themes L49: do not know what to do about their lives/do not know what to do with their lives

6) Particles

6.1 Omission(1)

L1: These two culture are so different that they can live together/ These two culture are so different that they cannot live together

6.2 Addition(1)

L17: barely have no voice/barely have a voice

6.3 Misselection

27

Style (20 or 2,34%)

1) Repetition(1)

L7: black men aren’t no more considered/black men are no longer considered

2) Abbreviations and contractions

3) Interjections(9)

L5: By the way/Furthermore L6: May such things make us thinking!/Hopefully they won’t go by unnoticed anymore L8: I found it a bit boring/ L12: By the way/Furthermore L25: I’m going to present you these extracts/These extracts will be presented L36: Let us analyse their characteristics/Their characteristics will be analysed L38: By the way/Furthermore L52: First I would like to tell that/It needs to be told first that L54: I mean, they’re talking about death

4) Punctuation

5) Questions(1)

L33: What’s life in general?/(...)

6) Syntactic complexity(3)

L16: a place of judgment/a courthouse L23: as the title make it suppose/as the title presupposes L36: The 20th century will make grow/The 20th century will foster

7) Misselection(1)

L36: Beckett’s fun-like Waiting for Godot/Beckett’s humoristic Waiting for Godot

8) Inappropriate style(2)

L23: a light, happy story/a light-hearted story L34: the main characters are gonna die

9) Enigma’s(3)

L31: Jerry is dicover of writer L33: no need to use too much thing for living L43: as far as it is the prologue

A grand total of 859 errors/lapses

28

Addendum 2: Ghent

Overview errors

Spelling(170 or 18,55%)

1) Compounds(20)

G2: youngman/young man G2:outloud/out loud G10: multi-lingual/multilingual G10: mother-tongue/mother tongue G11:warbanner/war banner G14: widely-known/widely known G17: oneliners/one-liners G21:middleclass/middle class G24:full-fledged/fully fledged G29: writing-talent/writing talent G35: cutout/cut-out G35: box-office/box office G39:fully-fledged/fully fledged G39: Rome-Catholic Church/Roman Catholic Church G40: deep-rooted/deeply rooted G46: ill-health/ill health G48: can not/cannot G52: pre-occupations/preoccupations G55: co-operated/cooperated G56: widely-read/widely read

2) Punctuation Marks

2.1 Omission (28)

G1: had a hard time being recognized which resulted/had a hard time being recognized, which resulted G1: for example Jane Austen’s novels/for example, Jane Austen’s novels G2:As all dandies he liked/As all dandies, he liked G2: aswell/as well G4: manipulative bitch/manipulative ‘bitch’ G7: Its clear/It’s clear G8: almost completed not in the least due to/almost completed, not in the least due to G11: true.Bryn/true. Bryn G16: Old Firm is the mocking appellation/’Old Firm’ is the mocking appellation G16: Actually football is only/Actually, football is only G17: wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray/wrote ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ G18: in the following some topics/in the following, some topics G19: In Great Expectations/In ‘Great Expectations’ G20: Mrs Kennedy/Mrs. Kennedy

29

G23: Edward Saïds broader applicable historical framework/ Edward Saïd’s broader applicable historical framework G24: In the early days people lived/In the early days, people lived G24: Henry Wylds book/Henry Wyld’s book G24: Use it of lose it/’Use it of lose it’ G29: Still one of the remaining questions is/Still, one of the remaining questions is G29: Again this was her way to/Again, this was her way to G39: Edward got on the throne because he was only nine years old he had the help of/:Edward got on the throne. Because he was only nine years old he had the help of G40: Beowulf/’Beowulf’ G41: However,it/However, it G42: century,French/century, French G46: ‘Pride and Prejudice/’Pride and Prejudice’ G47: Oscars older brother/Oscar’s older brother G48: a.k.a his ‘Vanessa’ Stella was the daughter/a.k.a. his ‘Vanessa’. Stella was the daughter G48: Swifts most famous novel/Swift’s most famous novel

2.2 Addition (24)

G6: shun their own children, who choose/shun their own children who choose G7: even though your life is hard, and you encounter/even though your life is hard and you encounter G10: invasion , building/invasion, building G11: fifth- century/fifth-century G25: in America, because of/in America because of G28: Almost everywhere in the world, forests are cleared, lakes drained/Almost everywhere in the world forests are cleared, lakes drained G28: Currently there are over 3, 5 million, who pay about £20 a year/ Currently there are over 3, 5 million who pay about £20 a year G29: eighteenth-century-society/eighteenth-century society G29: An interesting topic revealing her opinion on society, is the fact that/An interesting topic revealing her opinion on society is the fact that G29: Even though during this time, being a spinster woman meant/Even though during this time being a spinster woman meant G31: the kingdom of Sicily, had also done/the kingdom of Sicily had also done G31: British influence in Malta, is recognizable in everyday life/British influence in Malta is recognizable in everyday life G33:Ian McEwan, for instance did also show his concern/Ian McEwan for instance did also show his concern G35: This, because it is difficult/This because it is difficult G43: began inventing a story, dedicated to her/began inventing a story dedicated to her G43: only the White Knight, seems/only the White Knight seems G45: It’s frame narrative/Its frame narrative G46: world she lived in, in a very remarkably way/world she lived in in a very remarkably way G46: an other world/another world G49: A quotation from the famous writer Aldous Huxley, that fits quite well/ A quotation from the famous writer Aldous Huxley that fits quite well G49: he believed that[…],happiness could not be conditioned/He believed that […]happiness could not be conditioned

30

G52: when a sketch seemed to lose momentum, was also a favourite ending/ when a sketch seemed to lose momentum was also a favourite ending G52: without ever seeming pedantic or boring, was a very rare talent/ without ever seeming pedantic or boring was a very rare talent G57: readers now, could associate this/readers now could associate this

2.3 Misselection (25)

G1: noticed; ‘until recently[…]’/noticed: ‘until recently[…] G1: real identities;/real identities: G4:from the female press, they feel like/from the female press. They feel like G4:Carlos baker/Carlos Baker G4: A farewell to Arms/a Farewell to Arms G9: and one brother, Louis Montant Miller, Agatha was/and one brother, Louis Montant Miller. Agatha was G11: the british people/the British people G12: Malaysia and Burma; Once again,/Malaysia and Burma. Once again, G12: the British empire/the British Empire G24: twofold: Dialects/twofold: dialects G24: as mentioned before: First/as mentioned before: first G27: the stuttering is not constant however, in situations where the speaker feels/ stuttering is not constant however; in situations where the speaker feels G28: 3, 5 million/3.5 million G31:august/August G35: dares to laugh at British society. Knowing that ultimately/dares to laugh at British society, knowing that ultimately G35: each series is set in a different era, all follows/each series is set in a different era. All follows G39: He was officially the first protestant king, Edward ruled/He was officially the first protestant king. Edward ruled G40: evil place: One/evil place: one G42: middle ages/Middle Ages G45: middle ages/Middle Ages G46: life of popularity and fame. Because even in her days her books were very popular/ of popularity and fame, because even in her days her books were very popular G46: and afterwards never got married. And therefore/and afterwards never got married, and therefore G51: The less religious reader[…]tends to leave Milton to the academics, nevertheless/ The less religious reader[…]tends to leave Milton to the academics. Nevertheless G54: act of supremacy/Act of Supremacy G56: many experiences; war, politics or economics/many experiences: war, politics or economics

3) Errors caused by the non-phonetic nature of English

3.1 Letters written but not pronounced (2)

G24: Unfortunatly/Unfortunately G35: wheras/whereas

3.2 Sounds with more than one representation in writing(10)

31

G4: differenciate/differentiate G11: braught/brought G24: consequenses/consequences G24:nutricious/nutritious G41: offence/offense G46: resourt/resort G49:reflexion/reflection G52: geniusly/geniously G53: dependant/dependent G57: reflexion/reflection

3.3 Homophony(5)

G16: Northern-Island/Northern-Ireland G25: to proof/to prove G25: which proofs/which proves G48: does this proof/does this prove G55: thrown/throne

4) Errors caused by differences between the sound systems of target language and native language

5) Analogy

5.1 Phonetic analogy(6)

G2: necassary/necessary G26:dept/debt G26: devided/divided G26: devided in two/devided into G38:dual/duel G46: ambiguas/ambiguous

5.2 Orthographic analogy (5)

G28:outmost/utmost G35: found of/fond of G43:cheer nonsense/sheer nonsense G51: conviction because of treasury/conviction because of treachery G53: they lounged to lead the life of an artist/they longed to lead the life of an artist

5.3 Overgeneralization of a spelling rule(3)

G38: wolfs/wolves G38: believes/beliefs G55: believes/beliefs

32

6) Errors that may be attributed to the relatively inconsistent and arbitrary nature of English word derivation(1)

G56: acceptation/acceptance

7)Interference errors

7.1 Interference from the mother tongue(13)

G11: tirans/tyrants G12: their moral was given a vast blow/their morale was given a vast blow G17: Every Brit he met there/Every Briton he met there G24:normaly/normally G31: Britisch/British G38: Thebe/Thebes G41:pond/pound G41:diamante-studded/diamond-studded G43: metamorphose/metamorphosis G43: rimes/rhymes G45:theme’s vary/themes vary G48:misanthrope/misanthropist G55 the conspiracies to take her life: the ‘Complot of Babington’/ the conspiracies to take her life: the ‘Plot of Babington’

7.2 Interference from other languages(5)

G23: habitants/inhabitants G35: entrangled/entangled G38: anyways/anyway G39: Henri/Henry G39:Elisabeth/Elizabeth

8) Lapses(23)

G2: decandence/decadence G9:Agatha was the youngest of the/Agatha was the youngest of them G12: their role in word politics/their role in world politics G22: in order to take prisoneres/in order to take prisoners G22:The march prooved to be unstoppable/The march proved to be unstoppable G24:prejuidice/prejudice G24:communiction/communication G24:Use it of lose it/Use it or lose it G24:preservation/preservation G27: that cause to stuttering/that cause the stuttering G31:Mdina/Medina G31:open to ships of allnations/open to ships of all nations G35: illustratiors/illustrators G35: box-ofice/box-office G35: the Simpsones/the Simpsons G35: we fine many examples/we find many examples G48: he does not want to be to be/he does not want to be

33

G48:Guilliver/Gulliver G49:Euthansia/Euthanasia G51: Milton his influence on latter writers/Milton his influence on later writers G52: skech/sketch G54: Catherine van Aragon/Catherine of Aragon G57: Euthansia/Euthanasia

34

Grammar(499 or 54,48%)

1) Nouns

1.1 Misselection(16)

G5: noble families who had a lot of properties/noble families who had a lot of property G6: as other religious/as other religions G7:the path to succeed/the path to success G8: and was zealous for equal rights/and was a zealot for equal rights G38: Creoon did not take offend/Creoon did not take offense G41: the productive rate/the production rate G16:roots[…]Its origin we find/roots[…]its origins we find G16:seventeenth and eighteenth centuries/seventeenth and eighteenth century G16: Irish immigrant workforces/Irish immigrant workforce G21: does not have any perspective in matter of history/does not have any perspective in matters of history G23: a seventies years old/a seventy-year-old G25: hard of hearings/hard of hearing G36: this books looks like/this book looks like G39: their protestant idea only became stronger/their protestant ideas only became stronger G55: the conspiracies to take her life: the ‘Complot of Babington’/ the conspiracy to take her life: the ‘Complot of Babington’ G55: to hope for the good out of three/to hope for the best out of three

1.2 Omission(4)

G12: more commonly as/more commonly known as G18: in the following some topics/in the following paragraphs some topics G18: while in the seventeenth and eighteenth most of them/while in the seventeenth and eighteenth century most of them G55: the fortunate was/the fortunate one was

2) Articles

2.1 Omission(17)

G2: on one side/on the one side G4: on one hand/on the one hand G5: has kind of an infirmity/has a kind of an infirmity, has a kind of infirmity G7: in name of their god/in the name of their god G16: Celtic Glasgow and Glasgow Rangers/Celtic Glasgow and the Glasgow Rangers G16:which was played against Rangers/which was played against the Rangers G16:sometimes deaths as result/sometimes deaths as a result G25: recognized it as university/recognized it as an university G28: some of the habitats in care of the NT/some of the habitats in the care of the NT G29: to come to answer/to come to an answer G31: Maltese are described/The Maltese are described G37: everyone has an evil side with weak spot/everyone has an evil side with a weak spot G38: this is story that/this is a story that G41: It is not without reason that British people love their pets/It is not without a reason that

35

British people love their pets G43: spent his life as lecturer/spent his life as a lecturer G50: First crucial element/The first crucial element G56: style with all aspects of modernism/style with all the aspects of modernism

2.2 Addition(34)

G2: the bible of the decadence/the bible of decadence G2: part of an everyday life/part of everyday life G3: of the lively London/of lively London G3: transformed her disease into a strong writing/transformed her disease into strong writing G4:image of him being a sexist/image of him being sexist G5: used by a 250,000 people/used by 250,000 people G5: in the Greek Antiquity/in Greek Antiquity G5: out of the society/out of society G6: the core of the Christian teaching/the core of Christian teaching G8: they were regarded as an outcast of society/they were regarded as outcasts of society G10: became the language in the Church and law/became the language in Church and law G15: the Cockney slang/Cockney slang G16:rivalry between the two football teams:/rivalry between two football teams: G16: the Scottish history/Scottish history G18: went to a boarding school/went to boarding school G18: appreciated by the many readers/appreciated by many readers G26: the most obviously represented/most obviously represented G32: hatred towards the protestants/hatred towards protestants G33: the Indian culture/Indian culture G33: he starts to think about the society/he starts to think about society G33: the Islam/Islam G35: the Punch magazine/Punch magazine G35: The typical Americans/Typical Americans G36: offend the Islam/offend Islam G38: Heroic Code. And the most/Heroic Code. The most G38: in the ancient Greek society/in ancient Greek society G39: they are called the puritans/they are called puritans G42: the medieval Dutch/medieval Dutch G42: the East-Flemish/East-Flemish G42: the medieval Flemish G43: to do a research/to do research G54: the Protestantism/Protestantism G55: The rumour has it/Rumour has it G57: The people work seven and a half hours a day/People work seven and a half hours a day

2.3 Misselection(3)

G37: an conscious level G40: a heroic epic/an heroic epic G48: a absolute misanthrope/an absolute misanthrope

36

3) Pronouns

3.1 Personal pronouns

3.1.1 Misordering

3.1.2 Misselection(3)

G2: someone can live […] do whatever you please/someone can live […] do whatever they please G24:dialects[…]because it lack its prestige/dialects[…]because they lack its prestige G41: one domestic pet and they are not afraid to pamper them/one domestic pet and they are not afraid to pamper it

3.1.3 Omission

3.1.4 Addition

3.2 Reflexive pronouns

3.2.1 Addition

3.2.2 Misselection

3.2.3 Misordering(1)

G56: As she stated herself/As she herself stated

3.3 Possessive pronouns

3.3.1 Misselection(5)

G12: the nation and their moral/the nation and its moral G33: event that left his inerasable traces/event that left its inerasable traces G37: Also the Ring adjusts his own size/Also the Ring adjusts its own size G42: when Flanders lost his dominant position/when Flanders lost its dominant position G55: That has his reasons/That has its reasons 3.3.2 Omission (4)

G8: a nursemaid job/a nursemaid’s job G39: an own institution/his own institution G49: modern statement of him/modern statement of his G57: very modern statement of him/very modern statement of his

3.3.3 Addition

3.4 Relative pronouns

3.4.1 Omission

3.4.2 Misselection (11)

G6: consorting with those that are shunned/consorting with those who are shunned

37

G6: people, which does not manipulate/people, who do not manipulate G7:some people that have/some people who have G15:why did it become this famous/why did it become that famous G32: In which way did her youth/In what way did her youth G33: relatives that/relatives who G35: Moore’s films, who shares/Moore’s films, which shares G38: did not show weakness what meant that/did not show weakness which meant that G39: what was not unthinkable/which was not unthinkable G50: novel[…], here the villain is played/novel[…], wherein the villain is played G55: Letters[…] where/Letters[…] wherein

3.4.3 addition(1)

G35: In ‘Happy Tree Friends[…], both lugubrious cartoons, where we find exaggerated black humour/ In ‘Happy Tree Friends[…], both lugubrious cartoons, we find exaggerated black humour

3.5 Indefinite pronouns

3.4.1 Misselection(1)

G5: show respect to anyone/show respect to everyone

3.6 Demonstrative pronoun(5)

G5: these class/this class G6: this peaceful people/these peaceful people G40: He could not let Beowulf, who comes across as a righteous and noble man, believe in pagan gods because his audience[…] expect this to be the qualities of a Christian man/ He could not let Beowulf, who comes across as a righteous and noble man, believe in pagan gods because his audience[…] expect these to be the qualities of a Christian man G50: The overall image[…]is this of a terrifying, dark, fallen world/The overall image[…]is that of a terrifying, dark, fallen world G51: the reason here for is/the reason for this is

3.7 Dummy pronoun(3)

G16: In a newspaper article was written/In a newspaper article it was written G37: In conclusion can be said/In conclusion it can be said G39: Often is said/It is often said

4)Adjectives

4.1 Addition

4.2 Misselection(8)

G4: abundance of inspiration resources/abundance of inspirational resources G11: literally interest/literary interest G24: an enrichment fact/an enriching fact G43: The melancholy farewell/The melancholic farewell G51: religion crises/religious crises

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G53; easily to retrace/easily retraceable G54: a happily couple/a happy couple G56: show many talent/show much talent 4.3 Misordering(3)

G18: a quite eccentric woman/quite an eccentric woman G24: the caused damage/the damage caused G32: In one sunny bright day/In one bright sunny day

4.4 Omission

5)Adverbs and adverbials

5.1 Misselection(23)

G4: Ever since it has become common practice/Ever since then it has become common practice G6: they take it literal/they take it literally G8: from their typical female point of view/from their typically female point of view G8: she was a real iconic figure/she was a really iconic figure G8: a complete opposite position/a completely opposite position G13: on this aspect/in this respect G16: these violent loaded games/these violently loaded games G16:serious injured supporters/seriously injured supporters G21: in its whole/as a whole G23: more specific the geographical context/more specifically the geographical context G26: Next to that, his father got imprisoned/On top of that, his father got imprisoned G28: to live more ecological/to live more ecologically G33: Retrospectively he appeared to be a technician/In retrospect he appeared to be a technician G39: she had a complete different vision/she had a completely different vision G40: in advantage for/in favour of G40: deep-rooted/deeply rooted G45: in a complete ideal world/in a completely ideal world G48: equally sharp as an execution sword/as sharp as an execution sword G51: in the meanwhile/in the meantime G51: presented far more interesting than Dame/presented far more interestingly than Dame G51: He reacted-as always-rather ambiguous/He reacted-as always-rather ambiguously G52:some define it as typical British/some define it as typically British G53: to be taken serious/to be taken seriously 5.2 Misordering(34)

G4: Also Gail D. Sinclair adopts the principle/Gail D. Sinclair also adopts the principle G6: they show always hospitality/they always show hospitality G7:relationship, sometimes[…]religions offer are just not enough/relationship,[…]religions offer are sometimes just not enough G9: are several times filmed/are filmed several times G11: to a great extent the Romans had prepared the way for their departure/the Romans had prepared the way for their departure to a great extent

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G23:The region mainly was regarded/The region was mainly regarded G23:in which freely an opinion about a particular culture is made/ in which an opinion about a particular culture is freely made G26:Also Charles Dickens did/Charles Dickens did also G27: Regularly, a combination of these two traits can be seen/ a combination of these two traits can regularly be seen G28: Even 95% of the ancient buildings serves as a home for animals/95% of the ancient buildings even serves as a home for animals G29: but still she is considered/but she is still considered G29: division between men and women still was very strict/division between men and women was still very strict G30: the reader feels also united/the reader also feels united G31: states that first it was Napoleon/states that it was first Napoleon G37: Also the Ring adjusts his own size/The Ring also adjusts his own size G38: Antigone placed the will of the gods in giving her brother a proper funeral above the law and the will of Creoon/ Antigone placed the will of the gods above the law and the will of Creoon in giving her brother a proper funeral G39: also Mary contributed to this period of prosperity/Mary also contributed to this period of prosperity G40: Beowulf originally is a Christian epic/Beowulf is originally a Christian epic G42: it had already been Romanised completely/it had already been completely Romanised G43: in a subtle way he does not only analyze the political situation/He does not only analyze the political situation in a subtle way G44: Generally it’s very hard/It’s generally very hard G44: the progressive youngsters soon were proud/the progressive youngsters were soon proud G46: she was educated briefly by a relative in Oxford/she was briefly educated by a relative in Oxford G48: although he much more looks like/although he looks much more like G48: and had still some hope for/and still had some hope for G50: but still there is an image/but there is still an image G51: Milton also was/Milton was also G52: Often, historical and social events were parodied/Historical and social events were often parodied G53: So if there already had blossomed poetic thoughts/So if there had already blossomed poetic thoughts G55: Mary probably was not born to be lucky/Mary was probably not born to be lucky G55: but still some things that happened were really convenient for her/ but some things that happened were still really convenient for her G55: where he immediately, after his arrival, was thrown into the dungeon/where he was immediately after his arrival thrown into the dungeon G55: where explicitly was told that/where it was explicitly told that G57: the ideal of looking young exists also in the modern times/the ideal of looking young also exists in the modern times

5.3 Omission

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6)Verbs

6.1 Omission

6.1.1 Concord between subject and verb(11)

G4: essays[…]that looks/essays[…] that look G6: people ,[…] is not dangerous/people,[…] are not dangerous G9: another billion is translated/another billion are translated G31: Blouet[…] says it were the locals/Blouet[…] says it was the locals G34:a combination of techniques leave a lasting impression/a combination of techniques leaves a lasting impression G35: Moore’s films, who shares/Moore’s films, who share G41: half of the number of households keep/half of the number of households keeps G43: the striking similarity[…]are undeniable/the striking similarity[…]is undeniable G44: A youth subculture always need /A youth subculture always needs G46: calculation and practicality which often leads to disaster/calculation and practicality which often lead to disaster G51: his works, mainly Paradise Lost, still attracts a lot of attention/ his works, mainly Paradise Lost, still attract a lot of attention

6.1.2 omission of the future aspect

6.1.3 omission of the perfect aspect(2)

G2: he might wanted to/he might have wanted to G29: If she indeed got married, Jane most likely would never been given/ G29: If she indeed got married, Jane most likely would never have been given

6.1.4 Omission of the progressive aspect(2)

G27: using[…] evading[…] avoid/ using[…] evading[…] avoiding G50: When Shelley wrote this story there were important developments made/ When Shelley wrote this story there were important developments being made

6.1.5 Omission of primary auxiliaries(5)

G14: No spectacular events to be found in Ulysses/No spectacular events are to be found in Ulysses G33: our writers reacted slightly the same way as their US colleagues after the horrendous calamity/ our writers reacted slightly the same way as their US colleagues did after the horrendous calamity G35: This, because it is difficult to/This is, because it is difficult to G43: as eager to quote from this book as other branches/as eager to quote from this book as other branches are G55: Mary Stuart well-known, but few people/Mary Stuart was well-known

6.1.6 Omission of modal auxiliaries

6.1.7 Omission of -ing participle (1)

G24:regard dialects as less valuable than/regard dialects as being less valuable than

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6.2 Misselection

6.2.1 Incorrect forms of simple past and past participle(17)

G3: she did not gave in/she did not give in G5: they weren’t treat fairly/they weren’t treated fairly G5: are also build with/are also built with G5: They didn’t just achieved/They didn’t just achieve G14: This lead to/This led to G16: The ‘new Scots’ build up a place/the ‘new Scots’ built up a place G23: If the Balkans didn’t existed/If the Balkans didn’t exist G25: are also build/are also built G38: did Sophocles wrote/did Sophocles write G38: she hung herself/she hanged herself G38: As proved Sophocles’ Antigone/As proven Sophocles’ Antigone G42:a bilingual society aroused/a bilingual society arose G42: have already exist/have already existed G43: can best be proven/can best be proved G45: most other pilgrims did not came to word/ most other pilgrims did not come to word G46: When people red her books/When people read her books G53: this leaded to sayings/this lead to sayings

6.2.2 Tenses(88)

G4: they feel like/they felt like G4: he has a grudge/he had a grudge G4: he treats women unfairly/he treated women unfairly G5: everyone can speak/everyone could speak G5: who is already mentioned/who has already been mentioned G6: as if it was/as if it were G6: the Amish are founded/the Amish were founded G7: I just described/I have just described G8:women are only regarded as full since/women have only been regarded as full since G8: she received a lot of prizes during her career/she had received a lot of prizes during her career G8: with this one she says/with this one she said G8: she says she has the ‘royal flush’/she says she had the ‘royal flush’ G8: the feminist movement starts with Virginia Woolf/the feminist movement started with Virginia Woolf G8: was the novel everyone was waiting for/was the novel everyone had been waiting for G9: she is being called the best writer/she has been called the best writer G9: Agatha Christie had also written an autobiography/Agatha Christie also wrote an autobiography G9: In 1930 […] where she meets/In 1930 […] when she met G9: Max is 14 years younger/Max was 14 years younger G9: Thirteen at Dinner’ are also filmed/ Thirteen at Dinner’ has also been filmed G9: most known actor who portrayed Hercule Poirot/most known actor who has portrayed Hercule Poirot G11: It all begins in the Dark Ages/It all began in the Dark Ages G11: What he actually had done, is invite/What he actually had done, was invite G11: he claims that if this is true/he claims that if this were true

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G11: This battle would be a decisive struggle/This battle would have been a decisive struggle G12: had been relentlessly harmed by the bombings that wiped out entire cities/had been relentlessly harmed by the bombings that had wiped out entire cities G14: and evokes an avalanche of both criticism and praise/and evoked an avalanche of both criticism and praise G15: an adult man who reflects on his life and the mistakes he made/an adult man who reflects on his life and the mistakes he has made G15: Suddenly people knew what ‘Clockwork Orange’ means/Suddenly people knew what ‘Clockwork Orange’ meant G16: these violent loaded games often end with/these violent loaded games often ended G16: the roots of this rivalry has already been existing for decades/the roots of this rivalry had already existed for decades G16: ethnic cleansing is carried out by the IRA/ethnic cleansing is being carried out by the IRA G17: That just might give him a bit too much credit/That just might be giving him a bit too much credit G20: he had previously expressed[…]that he was willing to tell the entire story about the conspiracy if they transferred him/ he had previously expressed[…]that he was willing to tell the entire story about the conspiracy if they would transfer him G20: they issued a report in which they contradict/they issued a report in which they contradicted G20: they issued a report[…]and which state/they issued a report[…] and which stated G20: that they are for over ninety percent sure/ that they were for over ninety-five percent sure G21:every eyewitness, including Mrs Kennedy, confirm that/ every eyewitness, including Mrs Kennedy, confirmed that G22: Finding a god willing to look after it had been proven to be extremely difficult/Finding a god willing to look after it had proved to be extremely difficult G23: If Stoker really would have been in Montenegro/If Stoker really had been in Montenegro G24:What consequences evolve out of it/What consequences will evolve out of it? G26: he loved reading as many other “normal” children do/ he loved reading as many other “normal” children did G28: special care is taken of hundreds of ancient woodlands/special care is being taken of hundreds of ancient woodlands G29: If she indeed got married, Jane most likely would never been given/If she had indeed gotten married, Jane most likely would never been given G30: they wanted to know how the story of their great hero ended/they wanted to know how the story of their great hero would end G31:fleet which was harbouring there/fleet which was harboured there G33: There is not a day going by/There has not been a day gone by G33: a nine-year old boy whose father has died in the attacks/ nine-year old boy whose father had died in the attacks G37: The Ring could be so plain/The Ring could have been so plain G37:a strong person will become[…]but is also/a strong person will become[…] but will also G39: It all starts with/It all started with G39: there is in times of need always a ray of sun in our lives to find/ there is in times of need always a ray of sun in our lives to be found G39: and if she would give birth to the child before marriage/and if she were to give birth to the child before marriage G39: two were executed, one of them was Anne/two of them were executed, one of them had

43

been Anne G39: Duke Northumberland made him aware of the fact that if he would die early,[…] his half-sister Mary would be the next regent/ Duke Northumberland made him aware of the fact that if he were to die early,[…] his half-sister Mary would be the next regent G40: Whether these Christian elements were already present in the original oral version/Whether these Christian elements had already been present in the original oral version G40: He could not let Beowulf, who comes across as a righteous and noble man, believe in pagan gods because his audience[…] expect this to be the qualities of a Christian man/ He could not let Beowulf, who comes across as a righteous and noble man, believe in pagan gods because his audience[…] expected this to be the qualities of a Christian man G42: Ghent introduced a couple of changes which have been spread over a large part/Ghent introduced a couple of changes which have spread G43: When he finished telling[…] he decided/When he had finished telling[…] he decided G43: Alice remembered him better than anyone else she met/Alice remembered him better than anyone else she had met G46: This was actually the first novel she wrote/This was actually the first novel she had written G46: publisher did not want to edit her book before she changed the name/publisher did not want to edit the book before she had changed her name G47: He fights it with/He fought it with G48: When this plan would be put into action/When this plan were to be put into action G48: Does this proof that Swift hates mankind/Does this proof that Swift hated mankind G50: anxieties that are haunting the minds of the people in the 18th century/anxieties that haunted the minds of the people in the 18th century G51: Despite the fact that for ages Milton was considered a literary giant/Despite the fact that for ages Milton had been considered a literary giant G51: But he actually wanted to prove that the English language is as poetic as/ But he actually wanted to prove that the English language was as poetic as G53: When asked to speak[…] Virginia Woolf[…]replies/ When asked to speak[…] Virginia Woolf[…]replied G53: George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell and the Brönte sisters have fought against these prejudices/ George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell and the Brönte sisters fought against these prejudices G54: Henry blamed it on the fact that the Pope granted him the dispensation/Henry blamed it on the fact that the Pope had granted him the dispensation G54: and that because he wed his sister-in-law he was not able to receive/and that because he had wed his sister-in-law he was not able to receive G54: was not as easy as it seems/was not as easy as it seemed G55: she married Darnley, who is just like Mary/she married Darnley, who was just like Mary G55: so she falls in the arms/so she fell in the arms G55: Although they are family/Although they were family G55: where explicitly was told that they had an affair/where explicitly was told that they had had an affair G56: The 1920s were the golden years of Bloomsbury, during which Virginia Woolf had written her most/ The 1920s were the golden years of Bloomsbury, during which Virginia Woolf wrote her most G56: She said[…] during those ages men have suppressed women/ She said[…] during those ages men had suppressed women G56: If men would stop[…] there will be no war/ men would stop[…] there would be no war G56: women of the upper class don’t have this sort of power/ women of the upper class did

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not have this sort of power G56: they are not essential to the war-making/they were not essential to the war-making G56: the upper class is the weakest of all the classes/the upper class was the weakest of all the classes G56: daughters of educated men and noblemen possess the greatest power of all/ daughters of educated men and noblemen possessed the greatest power of all G56: Virginia Woolf emphasized that women are/Virginia Woolf emphasized that women were G56: she noted that women are hardly accepted/she noted that women were hardly accepted G56: she noted that women are hardly accepted in the professional world and their income is/ she noted that women are hardly accepted in the professional world and their income was G56: On March, 28 1941 Virginia Woolf drowns herself/ On March, 28 1941 Virginia Woolf drowned herself G57: because scarcely a year after the novel was published, Hitler will persuade/ scarcely a year after the novel was published, Hitler would persuade G57: scarcely a year after the novel was published, Hitler will persuade that the Jewish populations has to be loathed/ scarcely a year after the novel was published, Hitler will persuade that the Jewish populations had to be loathed

6.2.3 Auxiliaries(10)

G5: who was confirmed speech is divine/who had confirmed speech is divine G10: It must be said/It should be said G15: Alex gets to be treated/Alex is to be treated G23: If Stoker really would have been in Montenegro he could have known/ If Stoker really would have been in Montenegro he would have known G24:one shall/one will G31: they were decided/they had decided G45: It can be clear/It is clear G51: When the king of England became overthrown/When the king of England was overthrown G55: he decided that Riccio must be killed/he decided that Riccio had to be killed G55:Mary got banished/Mary was banished 6.2.4 Infinitive, ing-participle and gerund(12)

G6: whether or not accepting/whether or not to accept G14: she agreed on publishing Ulysses/she agreed to publish Ulysses G21: he does nothing but adapting/he does nothing but adapt G27: is the key to make this therapy work best/is the key to making this therapy work best G29: this was her way to discuss the position of women/this was her way of discussing the position of women G30: Summarizing it may be said/To summarize it may be said G33: who is suspected to be a terrorist/who is suspected of being a terrorist G34: One might even go so far as claiming/One might even go so far as to claim G38: Antigone is worthy to be called/Antigone is worthy of being called G40: faced the difficulty to somehow find/faced the difficulty of somehow finding G54: to prevent that another civil war would break out/to prevent another civil war from breaking out G55: love of his life to be taken away from him/love of his life being taken away from him

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6.3 Misordering(11)

G1: being not represented/not being represented G16: Its origin we find/We find its origin G21: Between this writing piece and his last/Between writing this piece and his last G25: In many European countries was the choice between manual or oral method inevitable/ In many European countries the choice between manual or oral method was inevitable G25: Valerie Sutton introduced in 1974 sign-writing/Valerie Sutton introduced sign-writing in 1974 G25: Gallaudet laid with his open-minded attitude the foundation of linguistic research/ Gallaudet with his open-minded attitude laid the foundation of linguistic research G29: Jane managed to get published her novels/Jane managed to get her novels published G38: Only by possessing these qualities a character could/Only by possessing these qualities could a character G40: There can be found a lot of Christian connotations/A lot of Christian connotations G50: Only when her suitor, Valancourt, rescues her, she can escape from it/ Only when her suitor, Valancourt, rescues her, can she escape from it G51: There were made derivations of the big poem/Derivations were made of the big poem

6.4 Addition

6.4.1 auxiliaries(1)

G57: in which individual thought, emotion and enterprise do no longer exist/in which individual thought, emotion and enterprise no longer exist

7) Prepositions

7.1 Omission(23)

G3: doctors also recommended her plenty of rest/doctors also recommended to her plenty of rest G5: the question whether it is/the question of whether it is G5: they established this language the deserved statute of/they established for this language the deserved statute of G7:when walked correctly/when walked upon correctly G8: The tenth of December Doris Lessing received/On the tenth of December Doris Lessing received G13: two main reasons why people/two main reasons for why people G14: was launched February 2nd 1922/was launched on February 2nd 1922 G15: regardless one’s actions or crimes/regardless of one’s actions or crimes G17: still the question remains who Jane was/still the question remains of who Jane was G29: added a bit romance/added a bit of romance G31: what kind Mediterranean treasure/what kind of Mediterranean treasure G47: to juggle words/to juggle with words G48: The reasons why Swift/The reasons for why Swift G50: reveals us that/reveals to us that G52: embarked their collaboration/embarked on their collaboration G54: to prevent that another civil war would break out/ to prevent another civil war from breaking out G54: he wished to marry her and abandon Catherine/he wished to marry her and to abandon

46

Catherine G54: to inquire the Pope to/to inquire from the Pope to G54: Rebelling Rome/Rebelling against Rome G56: Woolf has also examined the careers several female authors/ has also examined the careers of several female authors G1: she insisted others to dig up/she insisted on others to dig up G25:no interest or research/no interest in or research G33:reacted slightly the same way/reacted in slightly the same way

7.2 Misselection(80)

G3: out of fear for hostile/out of fear of G4: outlook upon/outlook on G4: adopts the principle his fictional women/adopts the principle for his fictional women G5: placed out of the society/placed outside of the society G5: interest for/interest in G5: interest to/interest in G5: by providing education with these/by providing education to these G6: they are unable of turning back/ they are unable to return G6: they are divided in/they are divided into G6: Besides the Bible they have unwritten/Beside the Bible they have unwritten G9: educated in home/educated at home G9: had many affairs, under which his affair/had many affairs, among which his affair G10: the case in Anglo-Saxon Britain/the case for Anglo-Saxon Britain G11: on whom the Arthur-saga could have been inspired/by whom the Arthur-saga could have been inspired G11: In the beginning of the fifth century/At the beginning of the fifth century G14: in the making of Ulysses […]was inspired by/For the making of Ulysses[…]was inspired by G16: compared with hooliganism/compared to hooliganism G16: fear for/fear of G17: went into history as/went down in history as G21:a reflection on society of that particular time and place/ a reflection on society at that particular time and place G21: to work at the Imperial Police/to work for the imperial police G21: does not have any perspective in matter of history/does not have any perspective on matter of history G22: when they set foot to Aztec territory/when they set foot on Aztec territory G23: If Stoker really would have been in Montenegro/If Stoker really would have been to Montenegro G23: gained more affection by British and other allied states/gained more affection from British and other allied states G23: In contrary/To the contrary G23:illustrative for Todorova’s ‘Balkanism’/illustrative of Todorova’s ‘Balkanism’ G23: Besides politics and other characteristics/Beside politics and other characteristics G24: Next to it, they are losing their function/On top of that, they are losing their function G24: the most important conditions in keeping dialects alive/the most important conditions for keeping dialects alive G25: no research In this language/no research on this language G25: Besides its unique world position/Beside its unique world position

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G25 pursuit of profit of his precursors/pursuit of profit by his precursors G25: they established this language its deserved statute/they established for this language its deserved statute G26: influences to his work/influences on his work G26: influence for his work/influence on his work G26: Next to books, Charles also loved/Apart from books, Charles also loved G28: most places are slightly different than when the Trust acquired them/ are slightly different from when the Trust acquired them G28: the management for flora conservation/the management of flora conservation G28: accessible for the public/accessible to the public G28: to win its battle from industrial pollution/to win its battle against industrial pollution G29: shows empathy to the domestic women/shows empathy for the domestic women G29: opinion on society/opinion of society G29: at her time/in her time G30: who bring letters every morning in the school/who bring letters every morning to the school G31: take a large toll of Maltese lives/take a large toll on Maltese lives G33: event that left his inerasable traces onto/ event that left his inerasable traces on G33: In one sunny bright day/On one sunny bright day G33: Besides the big change many American authors have gone through/Beside the big change many American authors have gone through G37: it can bring up the worst in people/it can bring out the worst in people G37: a weak spot of temptation/a weak spot for temptation G38: she would never back away for anything/she would never back away from anything G38: She persisted on giving/She persisted in giving G40: support of other scholars/support from other scholars G41: British people love animals[…] with a reason/British people love animals[…] for a reason G41: preserve the memory to his dog/preserve the memory of his dog G41: love of animals/love for animals G42:resemblances with/resemblances to G42: find their way to/find their way into G45: in that time/at that timeG30: feel caught up by a story/feel caught up in a story G45: satisfied about it/satisfied with it G46: boarding school in the Abbey gatehouse/boarding school at the Abbey gatehouse G46: more in this world than their own/more to this world than their own G46: play in her advantage/play to her advantage G48: sense for civilization/sense of civilization G49: comparable with/comparable to G50: in that time/at that time G53: at this topic/on this topic G53: dependant of/dependant on G53: Virginia Woolf also points at this very subject/Virginia Woolf also points to this very subject G54: brought Protestantism in the entire country/ brought Protestantism to the entire country G54: to give birth of a son/to give birth to a son G55: thrown into the dungeon/thrown in the dungeon G55: ask for help with Elizabeth/ask for help from Elizabeth G55: to be married with/to be married to G55: she falls in the arms of/she falls into the arms of G51: alluded on/alluded to

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G55: complicity of Mary for the death of/complicity of Mary in the death of G56: linked with/linked to

7.3 Misordering(6)

G2: that he was known for/for which he was known G6: who they are also named after/after whom they are also named G15:was not able to pass the entire brilliance of the novel on/was not able to pass on the entire brilliance of the novel G19: as the setting the novel begins with/as the setting with which the novel begins G19: another woman he was intensely involved with/another woman with whom he was intensely involved G40: It is not known who wrote the epic down/It is not known who wrote down the epic

7.4 Addition(11)

G4: Trying to influence to a more positive outlook/Trying to influence a more positive outlook. G16: large-scale of Irish immigrant workforces/large-scale Irish immigrant workforces G30: go through it by themselves/go through it themselves G31: a mistake he would later on regret/a mistake he would later regret G39: obey to the authority/obey the authority G41: strongly opposes to vivisection/strongly opposes vivisection G42: resemble to the West-Flemish dialect/resemble the West-Flemish dialect G45: on which he could be proud of/which he could be proud of G52: addressing to the camera/addressing the camera G54: he opposed against the protestants/he opposed the protestants G55: she had been married for three times/she had been married three times

8) Conjunctions

8.1 Omission(17)

G3: questions arise whether she was/questions arise as to whether she was G4: by pointing out many English writers described women/by pointing out that many English writers described women G5: who was confirmed speech is divine/who was confirmed that speech is divine G18: This means there is/This means that there is G25: discovered sign-languages are also/discovered that sign-languages G29: one could confirm Austen shows empathy/one could confirm that Austen shows empathy G32: Rumors told Elizabeth was involved/Rumors told that Elizabeth was involved G32: now we know[…], we can conclude/now that we know[…], we can conclude G35: intellectual depth, wit, self-effacing culture./intellectual depth, with and self-effacing culture G37: on an conscious level, then it/on an conscious level and then it G38: it is clear she has a natural ability/it is clear that she has a natural ability G40: is opposed by saying the Christian elements/is opposed by saying that the Christian elements G40: it is wrong to state Beowulf originally is/it is wrong to state that Beowulf originally is G40: the answer why New Testament figures are missing/the answer as to why New

49

Testament figures are missing G50: he or she must be saved by a loved one if not, his or her downfall is infinite/ he or she must be saved by a loved one and if not, his or her downfall is infinite G51: biologically less then men/biologically less than men G56: she noted that women are hardly accepted in the professional world and their income is/ she noted that women are hardly accepted in the professional world and that their income is

8.2 Addition(12)

G1: age of twelve. And in the Brontë/age of twelve. In the Brontë G1: most novels. And because of this genre/most novels. Because of this genre G2: As all dandies/Like all dandies G6:as other religious/like other religious G10: Eventually, and after a period/Eventually, after a period G23: As Byron before her/Like Byron before her G23: countries as Greece, Portugal/countries like Greece, Portugal G24:It seems that as society encounters standard language as the way/It seems that society encounters standard language as the way G26: Many, as Oliver Twist, followed/Many, like Oliver Twist, followed G43: just as Lewis/just like Lewis G45: just as Chaucer’s characters/just like Chaucer’s characters G54: to prevent that another civil war would break out/ to prevent another civil war would break out

8.3 Misselection(14)

G8: loved wandering in nature but was also a passionate reader/loved wandering in nature and was also a passionate reader G15: Burgess himself, on the contrary/Burgess himself, however G15:However the case may be/Whatever the case may be G15: Only, it was not because of his own merits/However, it was not because of his own merits G16: both Celtic fans as Ranger fans/both Celtic fans and Ranger fans G18: Jane Austen died, but still she is/Jane Austen died, and still she is G24:It is clear, the terms/It is clear that the terms G25:However the phenomenon is as old as the hills/Although the phenomenon is as old as the hills G25:However the deaf can count on a lot more understanding now, there is still/Although the deaf can count on a lot more understanding now, there is still G28: The National Trust was founded in 1895[…]. Nevertheless, the idea […] already dates from 1884/ The National Trust was founded in 1895[…]. However, the idea […] already dates from 1884 G30: feel caught up by a story like they go through it/feel caught up by a story as if they go through it G37: Further, even though/Furthermore, even though G41: But being considered a member of the family can sometimes/However, being considered a member of the family can sometimes G54: If he intended to become[…], his name is definitely on the list/Whether or not he intended to become[…], his name is definitely on the list 8.4 Misordering

50

Vocabulary(160 or 17,45%)

1) Nouns

1.1 Omission

1.2 Addition

1.3 Misselection(35)

G2:at its highlight/at its peak G5: another important fact is the question/another important issue is the question G5: the largest amount of deaf children/the largest number of deaf children G5:some criticisms say that/some critics say that G6: this quest is the mother of all religions/this quest is the primary belief of all religions G6: there is a people situated/there is a population group situated G13: to reach a large amount of people/to reach a large number of people G16:promised a price to/promised a prize to G17: Wilde suffered from the misfire of his own courage/Wilde suffered from the backfire of his own courage G22: but to no gain/but to no avail G24:dialect as a barricade in communication/dialect as a barrier(impediment) in communication G24:Despite of the strains of movements/Despite of the strands of movements G26: novelists need factors/novelists need events G26: he experienced this iniquity very clearly/he experienced this inequality very clearly G26:Dickens had a huge dislike/Dickens had a huge aversion G27: faults in the natural speech process/hampering(flaws) in the natural speech process G27: avoidance manners/avoidance strategies G27: Many persons think/many people think G28: were founded with a view to restrict this/were founded with the objective to restrict this G28: leftovers from the two world wars/debris from the two world wars G28: employ hundreds of disadvantaged young people; a concept that is sponsored by/ employ hundreds of disadvantaged young people; an objective that is sponsored by G29: women’s sphere inside the homes/women’s atmosphere inside the homes G30: One of her many tricks/One of her many devices G33: a stadium of mourning/a stage of mourning G33: event that left his inerasable traces/event that left his inerasable mark G33: It is another proof of how big the impact has been/It is another display of how big the impact has been G33: this all has been influenced/everything has been influenced G35: all follows the misfortunes/everything follows the misfortunes G37: similar tricks of the pen/similar techniques of the pen G42: The base of the Zealand dialect/The stem of the Zealand dialect G49: two thousand million/two billion G50: the societal unravelling/the societal disintegration G51: always convinced of his right/always convinced of his being right G51: derivations of the big poem/adaptations of the big poem G54: there are many ways that have been used to describe/there are many words that have been used to describe

51

2)Verbs

2.1 Omission

2.2 Addition

2.3 Misselection(66)

G1 women writers were prejudiced/women writers were subject to prejudice G4: this essay argues the views/this essay refutes the views G5: he learned them/he taught them G5:In spite of the good result the French manual method gained/In spite of the good result the French manual method achieved G8: they approximate their subjects in a different way/they approach (portray) their subjects in a different way G8: started self-questioning their subjects and book/started doubting their subjects and books G8: feminists used to call out the Golden Notebook as a bible/feminists used to describe the Golden Notebook as a bible G9: ‘Thirteen at Dinner’ are also filmed/‘Thirteen at Dinner’ are also adapted to the big screen G12: lack of allies obliged the British/lack of allies obligated the British G13: until we reach the current situation/until we arrive at the current situation G13: we are swamped in things to read/we are barraged by G17: he pulled attention to/he drew attention to G18: She also got correspondence with/She also maintained correspondence with G18: a lot of information could be learned about/a lot of information could be distilled about G19: the question rises/the question arises G19: Pip’s great expectations come into being when/Pip’s great expectations are fulfilled when G21: Orwell soon grew a feeling of guilt/Orwell soon developed a feeling of guilt G21:He decided to quit his position/He decided to give up his position G21: he does nothing but adapting news paper archives/he does nothing but censor news paper archives G21:as long as people stride against repression/as long as people battle against repression G24:Questions rise/Questions arise G24:Questions rise pondering this problem/Questions rise concerning this problem G24:people tend to leave behind dialects/people tend to abolish(abandon) dialects G24:language achieved another function/language obtained another function G24: It became a way to profile yourself in society/It became a way to portray yourself in society G24: It seems that as society encounters standard language as the way/ It seems that as society views standard language as the way G24:a prejuidice which needs to be invalidated/a prejuidice which needs to be rectified G25: two struggling methods/two competing methods G25: it mingled with/it hybridized with G26: his father occurs as the poor Mr. Micawber/his father appears as the poor Mr. Micawber G27: the natural speech pattern is interrupted/the natural speech pattern is disrupted G28: a garden […] was running wild/a garden was proliferating G28: Moreover they are helped by 52,000 volunteers/Moreover they are assisted by 52,000 volunteers G29: a woman was incontestably linked to domesticity/a woman was incontestably confined to domesticity

52

G31: this was not easily swallowed by/this was not easily accepted by G31: the French commanders recognized that their position couldn’t be kept/ the French commanders recognized that their position couldn’t be held G31: Bugeja calls in that/Bugeja claims that G31: had thrown the Order of the throne/had dethroned the Order G31: Malta called in for British help/Malta asked for British help G32:why she cherished such a hatred/why she nurtured(harboured) such a hatred G33: All these people just stand for regular people/All these people just represent regular people G34: The structure of Smith’s stories has been set out before/The structure of Smith’s stories has been mapped out before G36: who can redraw the fatwa/who can revoke the fatwa G37: it aggravates the effect/it reinforces the effect G38: Antigone has failed in owning virtue/Antigone has failed in possessing virtue G39: Generally said/Generally spoken G39: she planted a base/she set up a base G44: they stood up against what they found/they stood up against what they believed G45: most other pilgrims did not came to word/most other pilgrims did not speak G47:wondering of into the wide world/wandering off into the wide world G48: he is even revolved by the sight/he is even repulsed by the sight G49:happiness reached/happiness obtained G50: all that rests in the novel/all that remains in the novel G52: Ending sketches in the traditional way would not bother them/ Ending sketches in the traditional way would not interest them G53:The attempts […] were not only altered by the cultural poverty and the disapproval of society/ attempts […] were not only spurred by the cultural poverty and the disapproval of society G54: the trial about the legality of the marriage was called to Rome/the trial about the legality of the marriage was brought to Rome G55: Whether Mary was involved stays unclear/Whether Mary was involved remains unclear G55: Mary was sentenced to the death penalty/Mary was given the death penalty G55: Elizabeth lingered to sign the verdict/Elizabeth hesitated to sign the verdict G55: it got from bad to worse/it went from bad to worse G55:he got insane/he became insane G56: to affect the young against war/to influence the young against war G57: the image that society charges/the image that society desires G57: happiness depends on which class they are divided in/happiness depends on which class they are assigned to G57: Fertility is handled in a very specific way/Fertility is dealt with in a very specific way G57: happiness reached/happiness obtained

3)Adverbs and adverbials

3.1 Omission

3.2 Addition

3.3 Misselection(9)

G8: women are only regarded as full/women are only regarded as equal G8: women were considered as naïve and under-theorised/women were considered as naïve

53

and uneducated G24: fast changing society/rapidly changing society G27: Frequently, the beginning consonants are repeated three to four times/Usually the beginning consonants are repeated three to four times G33: not at least on the thinkers/not in the least on the thinkers G47: very often be infatuated at once/very often be infatuated immediately G49: even since the beginning/ever since the beginning G54: to tear up the alliance between England and Spain so roughly/ tear up the alliance between England and Spain so abruptly G57: even since the beginning/ever since the beginning

4)Adjectives

4.1 Misselection(25)

G5: the best of the two struggling methods/the best of two competing methods G5: an apart symbol/a separate symbol G6: who take big decisions/who take important decisions G6: if they choose the latest option/if they choose the latter option G8: in a roar unsentimental way/in a raw unsentimental way G12: was given a vast blow/was given a huge blow G14:the most innovating novel/the most innovative novel G14:it would result in excessive publicity/it would result in abundant publicity G17:cynic remarks/cynical remarks G27: more common terms/more general terms G27: the escaping behaviour/the escapist behavior G27: because of the hindering nature of the disorder/because of the impeding nature of the disorder G27: the most known therapies are/the most renowned therapies are G33: While the main part of the writers/While the major part of the writers G34:we as readers are never aware of her conscientious planning/we as readers are never aware of her deliberate planning G34: When this overparticular planning/When this overbearing planning G36: a fictive story/a fictional story G38: would be deadly punished/would be capitally punished G38: a strong catholic/a devout catholic G42: the elderly Flemish language elements/the older Flemish language elements G42: uprising tendency/rising tendency G48: The last one/The latter G54: the marriage to Catherine had been null since its very beginning/the marriage to Catherine had been invalid since its very beginning G54: two of the most significant opponents were/two of the most noteworthy opponents were G54: an unforgettable and insignificant person/an unforgettable and important person

5) Prepositions

5.1 Omission(4)

G16: to hold fast to/to hold fast on to G50: The second element that brings the intended atmosphere/The second element that brings about the intended atmosphere

54

G50: seduction is brought by the cruel/seduction is brought about by the cruel G54: to get trouble with/to get in trouble with

5.2 Addition(1)

G22: the temple[…]caught on fire/the temple[…]caught fire

5.3 Misselection(5)

G11: invite the Saxons in Britain/invite the Saxons to Britain G25: get a hold over the/get a hold of the G32: Due to her mother, Mary studied Latin/Thanks to her mother, Mary studied Latin G42: only rarely passed through/only rarely passed on G50: he or she is fated to go under/to go down

6)Particles

6.1 Omission(2)

G17: Wilde could let go of his aestheticism/Wilde could not let go of his aestheticism G52: While some define it as typical British, others have doubts about their style conforming to traditional humoristic rules/ While some define it as typical British, others have doubts about their style not conforming to traditional humoristic rules

6.2 Addition

6.3 Misselection(2)

G24: they are no full-fledged languages/they are not full-fledged languages G24:is no nutricious ground for dialects/is not a nutricious ground for dialects

6.4 Misordering(1)

G37: so as not to be lonely anymore/so as to not be lonely anymore

55

Style (87 or 9,50%)

1) Repetition(4)

G7:Its clear that after the factors I just described that/its clear that after the factors I just described, G22: and tactics, their tactics, their horses/and their tactics and horses G23: In contrast with Durham[…]in opposite with Durham, she/ Contrary to Durham, she G27: there are three basic characteristics[…]are repetitions, blocks and prolongations/there are three basic characteristics[…]: repetitions, blocks and prolongations.

2) Abbreviations and contractions(51)

G2: that’s/that is G5: doesn’t/does not G5: it’s/it is G5:aren’t/are not G5:weren’t/were not G5:didn’t/did not G5:haven’t/do not have, have not G5: they’re/they are G5: wasn’t/was not G5: there’s/there is G6: it’s/it is G6: etc./and so on G6: e.g./for example G7:don’t/do not G8:don’t/do not G9: He’s/He is G10: Let’s/Let us G10: can’t/cannot G11: etc./and so on G12: That’s/That is G12: e.g./such as G13: didn’t/did not G14:weren’t/were not G19:couldn’t/could not G22: etc./and so on G27: don’t/do not G30: It’s/It is G31:couldn’t/could not G31: weren’t/were not G31:hadn’t/had not G31: doesn’t/does not G31: cpt./captain G35:wouldn’t/would not G35: It’s/It is G35:don’t/do not G37: that’s/that is G37:wasn’t/was not

56

G44:didn’t/did not G44: it’s/it is G44: hasn’t/has not G45:wasn’t/was not G47: etc./and so on G47: It must’ve been/It must have been G48: a.k.a./also known as G53: weren’t/were not G53: hasn’t/has not G53: hadn’t/had not G54:didn’t/did not G55: couldn’t/could not G55:didn’t/did not G56: e.g./like

3) Interjections(4)

G1: and let us not forget/It must not be forgotten G2: Yes, Wilde was/Wilde was indeed G8: Just think about Virginia Woolf/Virginia Woolf needs to be considered G10: Let’s ask ourselves if this was also the case/Was this also the case

4) Punctuation(1)

G9: died on January 12 1976, at age 85, from natural causes, in Wallingford/died on January 12 1976 at age 85 from natural causes in Wallingford

5) Questions(1)

G10: And how about the saying: new masters, new laws?/the creed ‘new masters, new laws is applicable here as well

6 ) Syntactic complexity(6)

G1: the writing of women came to exist as a separate category of scholarly interest/the writing of women became a separate category of scholarly interest. G7: in the modern society of today/today’s modern society G33: authors started looking inside their own souls/authors started doing some soul-searching G39: tried to install the old English culture back/tried to reinstall the old English culture G54: Due to his becoming of that/Due to this G54: Because Elizabeth would not have been a legitimate child if Catholicism was the way since her mother’s marriage with Henry would have been illegal/If Catholicism had endured, Elizabeth would not have been a legitimate child since her marriage with Henry would have been illegal

7) Misselection(10)

G2: a big no-no/frowned upon G12: another punch in the face/another embarrassment G13: reading was a social thing/reading was a social occasion G21:it is in fact a drag/it is in fact a routine G31: For sure/definitely

57

G32: who did not want to throw in the towel/who did not want to give up G36: they do not put up with these references lightly/they do not take these references lightly G38: reputation[…] on the line/reputation[…]at stake G39: after he got fed up with Anne/after the relationship with Anne was outlived G55: to do away with him/to dispose of him

8)inappropriate style(10)

G9: Agatha earned the title/Christie earned the title G11: They also came up with some warriors/They also discovered some warriors G21:a name that probably does not ring a bell/a name that probably is unknown G21: a mere journalistic work/a journalistic work G24: the negative attitude towards dialects will make them history/the negative attitude towards dialects will make them disappear G29: Jane knew/Austen knew G30: As if one can really touch him/He can never really be touched G39: Henri and Catherine/Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon G44: It sounded pretty cool/It had a nice ring to it G47: his ever so relevant issues/his relevant issues

Grand total of 916 errors/lapses