Common Errors in English Language Learning and Use – the Philippine Context

For a large portion of 10 years, I have invested critical energy working with and considering English as Second Language (ESL) students in a few settings †on the web, corporate, and scholarly. Throughout interfacing with these various kinds of understudies, a few fascinating highlights emerge in the investigation of the learners’ language, most particularly mistakes recorded as a hard copy. In this article, I will give a concise foundation of the blunders of the students. I will likewise attempt to exemplify a portion of my perceptions and encounters in managing language blunders and most likely recommend ways on the best way to properly address them. Ideally, this will be an eye opener to a great deal of English language educators and professionals that mistakes are significant in both learning and instructing ESL. The Context The impact of broad communications, which utilize English as a mechanism for correspondence has extraordinarily contributed in the improvement of the English language in the Philippines. A few broadsheets and magazines, FM radio shows and late night broadcasts in English are only a couple of signs that the language is without a doubt alive in the neighborhood media scene. Besides, the pervasiveness of business process re-appropriating (BPO) enterprises is additionally an approval that the nation is home to a large number of bilingual client assistance agents who convey quality client support to English-talking customers. Philippine instruction, nonetheless, doesn't have a similar story. As the years progressed, instructors and school executives have attempted various techniques to improve the English language capability of their understudies. However, in light of perception and research, there is incongruence between the techniques and the language rehearses in Philippine schools ; for example, â€Å"most universities and colleges guarantee that their mechanism of guidance (MOI) is English yet there is regularly no express school approach articulating this (Bernardo and Gaerlan, 2006:21). † This, consequently, brings about the decay of English capability, leaving instructors and educators with uncertain issues in regards to standard strategies and systems in utilizing the English language in the academe. On Errors and the Learners’ Language (Interlanguage) Errors are viewed as noteworthy highlights in getting, learning, and showing a subsequent language. It has been standard for understudies and educators to discuss mistakes in the language study hall, most particularly recorded as a hard copy classes. Encouraging experts regularly feel disappointed with the nature of the language of their students’ articles. , For certain, mistakes are indications of disappointment while others accept that they indicate and chances to comprehend the extremely unpredictable procedure of figuring out how to impart in a subsequent language. One approach in examining the learner’s blunder is by doing Error Analysis (EA) or â€Å"the procedure of deciding the frequency, nature, causes and outcomes of fruitless language† (James, 1998:1). Earthy colored (2000:218) states that blunders may result from a few sources, two of which are: â€Å"interlingual mistakes of obstruction from the local language and intralingual blunders inside the objective language, setting of learning and correspondence procedures. To just put it, the primary kind alludes to the second language mistakes that reflect local language structure while the subsequent one, brings about defective structures that don't adhere to the measures of the objective language. It is likewise an unquestionable requirement to recognize the sort of language that students produce so as to concoct an all encompassing investigation of the learners’ mistakes. Larry Selinker marks this as interlanguage or â€Å"the separateness of a second language learn ers’ framework, a framework that has a fundamentally moderate status between the local and target languages† (1972 in Richards, 1974:31). With this, it will be simpler for educators to comprehend where students are coming from and furthermore for them to think of potential answers for address these mistakes. The Classroom Experience In the English study hall, where formal learning happens, I have experienced a few â€Å"unique experiences† in managing blunders in scholastic composition. Filipino undergrads are extremely creative in developing English sentences that frequently bring about a few interlingual and intralingual mistakes. Take for example the accompanying passage from a student’s organization: Me in my companion was abandoned at the entryway 3 of fortress Bonifacio on the grounds that the jeepney can't ignore in light of the substantial flood that in the event that we measure is in a waistline and in some spot in a neck area. Me and my companion was simply remain in the jeepney trusting and holding up that the downpour would stop for us to return home. † It is very evident that the unders tudy has submitted a few intralingual mistakes, for example, a. Abused pronoun (Me and my companion †My companion and I) b. Broken capitalization (stronghold Bonifacio †Fort Bonifacio) c. Wrong combination (Me in my companion †â€Å"and†) . Wrong action word tense (was simply stay †stayed) e. Absence of accentuation (Me and my companion was simply remain in the jeepney (,) trusting and holding up that the downpour would stop(,) for us to return home. f. Concocting new jargon and utilization (ignore which implies â€Å"to pass through†; waistline which ought to be â€Å"waist deep†) The understudy additionally utilized her insight into the main language (for this situation Tagalog) to write in English. For instance, the compound subject â€Å"Me and my friend† is an immediate interpretation of the Filipino expression â€Å"Ako at ang kaibigan ko†. This is a solid case of an interlingual blunder. It is extremely dull to stamp expositions that contain various blunders yet these things must be brought up so as to improve the language capacities of understudies. Besides, by contemplating these sorts of blunders, it will be simpler to analyze certain territories that need fortification. Some Possible Solutions As an educator and scientist, I have understood that it is basic to put most extreme significance to the mistakes that ESL understudies submit in scholastic composition. Considering these blunders may mean discovering plausible answers for address them. Coming up next are a few recommendations that different instructors can do in their own study halls: 1. Investigate and redress the blunders found in the learners’ creations by following explicit â€Å"linguistic standards or the conventional highlights of a language† (James, 1998:206). With this close by, a reason for evaluating and adjusting the blunders of understudies will be accessible. 2. After investigation, give valuable materials that will help strengthen language capability. This should be possible by tending to explicit regions of concern like sentence structure, lexis, use, and mechanics. This will be useful most particularly to battling understudies that are experiencing issues in understanding the unpredictable guidelines of the objective language. 3. It is likewise an unquestionable requirement to perceive singular contrasts inside and outside the study hall. Discovering time to interface with understudies will likewise help in understanding the subtleties of the dialects that they use. Knowing how they communicate and having the option to adapt to their inclinations will give the educators a few bits of knowledge as respects the learners’ language. . At long last, persistent research and blunder investigation can prompt an advancement of a standard material dependent on exact information. This will help address the most incessant blunders that students submit in explicit semantic zones. References: Bernardo, A. and Gaerlan, M. J. (2006). Instructing in English in Philippine advanced education: The instance of De La Salle University-Manila. Hong Kong Univers ity. Earthy colored, H. (2000). Standards of language learning and instructing. Britain: Longman. James, C. (1998). Mistakes in language learning and use. London: Addison Wesley Longman Limited. Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage in blunder investigation: Perspectives in second language securing. Jack C. Richards, (Ed. ). London: Longman Group Limited. Author’s Profile Mark Arthur Payumo Abalos shows school English, composing (informative, research and specialized), oral correspondence, and writing at the Far Eastern University †East Asia College and De La Salle †College of St. Benilde in Manila, Philippines. He likewise functions as an English language program facilitator at John Robert Powers International and an IELTS advisor at the PALMS Australian Immigration Services. He used to be a full-time Educational Consultant for the Language and Literacy Programs of Scholastic Publishing. He got his bachelor’s qualification in English Studies: Language from the University of the Philippines †Diliman. His master’s investigate centers around the noteworthiness of interlanguage punctuation and mistake examination in creating ELT materials. You can contact him at [emailâ protected] com.