Journal of English Language Teaching

Error Analysis: An Essential Tool for English Language Teaching and Learning

Krishna Hazarika

PhD Scholar. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.

Keywords: Error analysis, English Teaching, ELT, Language Learning, Assamese learners

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Abstract

Designing pedagogical methods and strategies that promote language learning is the main focus of any language teacher, and to some extent, every linguist. Though it isn’t mentioned clearly anywhere, every teacher or applied linguist’s main goal is to provide students the “correct” aspects of the language they are learning. The emphasis on “correctness” derives from the assumption that incorrect grammatical constructions or linguistic variations will result in incomprehensibility and communication barriers. Due to this belief, Contrastive Analysis (CA) and Error Analysis (EA) concentrated on the “correct” grammatical, lexical, and syntactical elements of the Target Language (TL), in this instance English. Both Contrastive Analysts and Error Analysts examined the language and attempted to identify areas of ease or difficulty.  And this was accomplished with some level of success. However, in the current socio-educational context of Indian schools, where English language teaching is a major stake, insights from CA and EA, actually, are either not taken into consideration or are deemed insufficient. Where English language instruction uses bilingualism, CA is taken into consideration, albeit obliquely, indirectly, and briefly. But EA is entirely disregarded. It is seen, when an instructor/ a teacher mark mistake/errors in students’ work and copies, they even just suggested for corrections without considering why the mistakes or errors happened or how to avoid them in the future. In the education system of India no one can deny the relevance of ELT with the language’s ever-increasing importance as a second language in India and a second language around the world. So, to examine error analysis (EA) from a fresh perspective and determine how to use it as an effective teaching tool in schools or institutions we shall explore in this work.

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