What is the difference between a mistake and an error? Explain the role of inter language in students’ errors. What is fossilization of errors and how can it be prevented?

‘Error’ and ‘Mistake’ are two of these words. Both of the words mean: “A wrong action attributable to bad judgment, or ignorance, or inattention”. In ELT, a mistake is based on knowledge that the students have, but haven't applied properly. Errors are different, for they reflect that the student hasn't got the necessary knowledge to make just a mistake. A mistake i.e. a slip of the tongue can be self-corrected and an error cannot. An error is systematic i.e. likely to occur repeatedly and not recognized (known) by the learner.

Error when we do not know the rules and make errors.

Mistake when we know the rules but forget it and make mistakes.

Can you tell the difference between an error and a mistake? Not always. An error cannot be self-corrected, according to James (1998: 83), while mistakes can be self-corrected if the deviation is pointed out to the speaker. But the learner's capacity for self-correction is objectively observe. In order to analyze learner language in an appropriate perspective, it is crucial to make a distinction between mistakes and errors, technically two very different phenomena.

· Interlingual transfer

We commonly observe in second language learners a plethora of errors attributable to the negative transfer of the native language to the target language. It is quite common, for example, to detect certain foreign accents and to be able to infer, from the speech of the learner alone, where the learner comes from. Native English speakers can easily identify the accents of English language learners from Germany, France, Spain, and Japan, for example. Such accents can even be represented in the written word. Stockwell, Bowen, and Martin (1965), who posited what they called a hierarchy of difficulty by which a teacher or linguist could make a prediction of the relative difficulty of a given aspect of the target language. For phonological systems in contrast, Stockwell and his associates suggested eight possible degrees of difficulty.

Level 0 — Transfer. No difference or contrast is present between the two languages. The learner can simply transfer (positively) a sound, structure, or lexical item from the native language to the target language. Examples: English and Spanish cardinal vowels, word order, and certain words (mortal, inteligente, arte, ameri-canos).

Level 1 — Coalescence. Two items in the native language become coalesced into essentially one item in the target language. This requires that learners overlook a distinction they have grown accustomed to. Examples: English third-person possessives require gender distinction (his/her), and in Spanish they do not (su);an English speaker learning French must overlook the distinction between teach and learn, and use just the one word apprendn in French.

Level 2 — Underdifferentiation. An item in the native language is absent in the target language.The learner must avoid that item. Examples: English learners of Spanish must "forget" such items as English do as a tense carrier, possessive forms of wh- words (whose), or the use of some with mass nouns.

Level 3 — Reinterpretation. An item that exists in the native language is given a new shape or distribution. Example: an English speaker learning French must learn a new distribution for nasalized vowels.

Level 4 — Overdifferentiation. A new item entirely, bearing little if any similarity to the native language item, must be learned. Example: an English speaker learning Spanish must learn to include determiners in generalized nominals (Man is mortal/£/ hombre es mortal), or, most commonly, to learn Spanish grammatical gender inherent in nouns.

Level 5 — Split. One item in the native language becomes two or more in the target language, requiring the learner to make a new distinction. Example: an English speaker learning Spanish must learn the distinction between ser and estar (to be), or the distinction between Spanish indicative and subjunctive moods.

Prator's reinterpretation, and Stockwell and his associates' original hierarchy of difficulty, were based on principles of human learning. The first, or "zero," degree of difficulty represents complete one-to-one correspondence and transfer, while the fifth degree of difficulty was the height of interference. Prator and Stockwell both claimed that their hierarchy could be applied to virtually any two languages and make it possible to predict second language learner difficulties in any language with a fair degree of certainty and objectivity.

The relatively permanent incorporation of incorrect linguistic forms into a person's second language competence has been referred to as fossilization.Fossilization is a normal and natural stage for many learners, and should not be viewed as some sort of terminal illness, in spite of the forbidding metaphor that suggests an unchangeable situation etched in stone. A better metaphor might be something like "cryogenation"—the process of freezing matter at very low tem peratures; we would then have a picture of a situation that could be reversed (given some warmth, of course!). How do items become fossilized? Fossilization can be seen as consistent with principles of human learning already discussed in this book: conditioning, reinforcement, need, motivation, self-determination, and others. Vigil and Oller (1976) provided a formal account of fossilization as a factor of positive and negative affective and cognitive feedback. They noted that there are two kinds of information transmitted between sources (learners) and audiences (in this case, native speakers): information about the affective relationship between source and audience, and cognitive information—facts, suppositions, beliefs. Affective information is primarily encoded in terms of kinesic mechanisms such as gestures, tone of voice, and facial expressions, while cognitive information is usually conveyed by means of linguistic devices (sounds, phrases, structures, discourse). The feedback learners get from their audience can be either positive, neutral, somewhere in between, or negative. The two types and levels of feedback are charted below:

Affective Feedback:

Positive: Keep talking; I'm listening.

Neutral: I'm not sure I want to maintain this conversation.

Negative: This conversation is over.

Cognitive Feedback:

Positive: I understand your message; it's clear.

Neutral: I'm not sure if I correctly understand you or not.

Negative: I don't understand what you are saying; it's not clear.

Describe each of 4 parts of a lesson: Warm - up, Presentation, Practice and Production. Give the goal of each part and explain what types of activities should be included, in what order and how many. What is the theory behind this method of organization?

• Warm-up/Review—encourages learners to use what they have been taught in

previous lessons

PPP" (or the "3Ps") stands for Presentation, Practice and Production - a common approach to communicative language teaching that works through the progression of three sequential stages. It is a more traditional way to organize a FL class. The parts of this structure should always be in the same order. At stage 1 new language material is presented to the learner. At stage 2 this is practised in a controlled way by means of drill-like activities, and at the final stage it is utilized in more natural interactions, where the learner has greater freedom for creative language use.

Presentation represents the introduction to a lesson, and necessarily requires the creation of a realistic (or realistic-feeling) "situation" requiring the target language to be learned. This can be achieved through using pictures, dialogs, imagination or actual "classroom situations". The teacher checks to see that the students understand the nature of the situation, then builds the "concept" underlying the language to be learned using small chunks of language that the students already know. Having understood the concept, students are then given the language "model" and angage in choral drills to learn statement, answer and question forms for the target language. This is a very teacher-orientated stage where error correction is important.

Practice usually begins with what is termed "mechanical practice" - open and closed pairwork. Students gradually move into more "communicative practice" involving procedures like information gap activities, dialog creation and controlled roleplays. Practice is seen as the frequency device to create familiarity and confidence with the new language, and a measuring stick for accuracy. The teacher still directs and corrects at this stage, but the classroom is beginning to become more learner-centered. Production is seen as the culmination of the language learning process, whereby the learners have started to become independent users of the language rather than students of the language. The teacher's role here is to somehow facilitate a realistic situation or activity where the students instinctively feel the need to actively apply the language they have been practicing. The teacher does not correct or become involved unless students directly appeal to him/her to do so. The PPP approach is relatively straight forward, and structured enough to be easily understood by both students and new or emerging teachers. It is a good place to start in terms of applying good communicative language teaching in the classroom. It has also been criticized considerably for the very characteristic that makes it the easiest method for 'beginner' teachers, that is, that it is far too teacher-orientated and over controlled. A nice alternative to 'PPP' is Harmer's 'ESA' (Engage/Study/Activate) Presentation, Practice and Production, commonly referred to as PPP, is a kind of instructional sequence, i.e. a model of lesson planning. Presentation stage: The teacher begins the lesson by setting up a situation, either eliciting or modeling some language that the situation calls for. Presentation may consist of model sentences, short dialogues illustrating target items, either read from the textbook, heard on the tape or acted out by the teacher. Practice stage: Students practise the new language in a controlled way. They drill sentences or dialogues by repeating after the teacher or the tape, in chorus and individually, until they can say them correctly. Other practice activities are matching parts of sentences, completing sentences or dialogues and asking and answering questions using the target language. Production stage: Students are encouraged to use the new language in a freer way either for their own purposes and meanings or in a similar context introduced by the teacher. It can be a role play, a simulation activity or a communication task. There are three main stages in any lesson: Presentation, Practice, and Production. A lesson which includes all these stages can help children learn more efficiently. The presentation stage involves explaining the aims of the lesson so that children know what they will learn and why. It is also during this stage that the teacher explains the new language, including both its meaning and form, and how to say or write it correctly. A good presentation will be understandable, interesting and in a context the children can understand, such as a song, game or story. The goal of the practice stage is to help the children use the new language you have just explained to them. The teacher can ask the children to produce sentences or answer questions that demonstrate they understand how to use the language correctly. In a good practice stage, language will also be in a context which children understand. It is at this stage that error correction is most important. The final stage is the production stage. This stage can help motivate children to communicate meaning with the new language. Children should have the opportunity during this stage to experiment with the language, for example they can use the names of animals to make a story. You do not need to correct too much during this stage, but you can observe the children and give feedback at the end of the stage.

Not all lessons need all three stages. This is simply one way to help children learn new language in an enjoyable and effective way. This model may not be useful in some lessons, for example those lessons in which children are practising language they already know.

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