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

For a large portion of 10 years, I have invested noteworthy energy working with and examining English as Second Language (ESL) students in a few settings †on the web, corporate, and scholarly. Over the span of interfacing with these various kinds of understudies, a few fascinating highlights emerge in the investigation of the learners’ language, most particularly blunders recorded as a hard copy. In this article, I will give a concise foundation of the mistakes of the students. I will likewise attempt to epitomize a portion of my perceptions and encounters in managing language blunders and most likely propose ways on the best way to fittingly address them. Ideally, this will be an eye opener to a ton of English language educators and professionals that blunders are significant in both learning and instructing ESL. The Context The impact of broad communications, which utilize English as a mode for correspondence has enormously contributed in the improvement of the English language in the Philippines. A few broadsheets and magazines, FM radio shows and late night reports in English are only a couple of indications that the language is in fact alive in the neighborhood media scene. Moreover, the pervasiveness of business process re-appropriating (BPO) ventures is likewise an approval that the nation is home to a huge number of bilingual client support delegates who convey quality client care to English-talking customers. Philippine training, be that as it may, doesn't have a similar story. As the years progressed, instructors and school managers have attempted various methodologies to improve the English language capability of their understudies. However, in view of perception and research, there is incongruence between the systems and the language rehearses in Philippine schools ; for example, â€Å"most schools and colleges guarantee that their mode of guidance (MOI) is English yet there is frequently no express school strategy 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 arrangements and techniques in utilizing the English language in the academe. On Errors and the Learners’ Language (Interlanguage) Errors are viewed as huge highlights in obtaining, learning, and showing a subsequent language. It has been standard for understudies and instructors to discuss mistakes in the language study hall, most particularly recorded as a hard copy classes. Instructing experts regularly feel disappointed with the nature of the language of their students’ papers. , For certain, blunders are indications of disappointment while others accept that they indicate and chances to comprehend the extremely mind boggling procedure of figuring out how to impart in a subsequent language. One system in considering the learner’s mistake is by doing Error Analysis (EA) or â€Å"the procedure of deciding the occurrence, nature, causes and outcomes of ineffective 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 mistakes inside the objective language, setting of learning and correspondence systems. To just put it, the main kind alludes to the second language mistakes that reflect local language structure while the subsequent one, brings about flawed structures that don't adhere to the principles of the objective language. It is additionally an unquestionable requirement to recognize the sort of language that students produce so as to think of a comprehensive investigation of the learners’ mistakes. Larry Selinker marks this as interlanguage or â€Å"the separateness of a second language learners ’ framework, a framework that has a fundamentally middle of the road status between the local and target languages† (1972 in Richards, 1974:31). With this, it will be simpler for instructors to comprehend where students are coming from and furthermore for them to concoct potential answers for address these blunders. The Classroom Experience In the English study hall, where formal learning happens, I have experienced a few â€Å"unique experiences† in managing mistakes in scholarly composition. Filipino undergrads are extremely creative in building English sentences that frequently bring about a few interlingual and intralingual blunders. Take for example the accompanying selection from a student’s piece: Me in my companion was abandoned at the door 3 of stronghold Bonifacio in light of the fact that the jeepney can't ignore as a result of the substantial flood that on the off chance 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 u nderstudy has submitted a few intralingual mistakes, for example, a. Abused pronoun (Me and my companion †My companion and I) b. Flawed capitalization (fortress Bonifacio †Fort Bonifacio) c. Wrong combination (Me in my companion †â€Å"and†) . Mistaken 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. Imagining new jargon and use (disregard which implies â€Å"to pass through†; waistline which ought to be â€Å"waist deep†) The understudy additionally utilized her insight into the primary 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 mistakes yet these things must be called attention to so as to improve the language capacities of understudies. In addition, by contemplating these sorts of blunders, it will be simpler to analyze certain zones that need fortification. Some Possible Solutions As an educator and specialist, I have understood that it is basic to put most extreme significance to the blunders that ESL understudies submit in scholastic composition. Contemplating these mistakes may mean discovering plausible answers for address them. Coming up next are a few proposals that different educators can do in their own study halls: 1. Investigate and correct the mistakes found in the learners’ structures by following explicit â€Å"linguistic rules or the conventional highlights of a language† (James, 1998:206). With this close by, a reason for evaluating and amending the mistakes of understudies will be accessible. 2. After investigation, give advantageous materials that will help fortify language capability. This should be possible by tending to explicit regions of concern like syntax, lexis, utilization, and mechanics. This will be useful most particularly to battling understudies that are experiencing issues in understanding the mind boggling rules of the objective language. 3. It is likewise an absolute necessity 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 collaborate and having the option to adapt to their inclinations will give the instructors a few bits of knowledge as respects the learners’ language. . At long last, nonstop research and mistake investigation can prompt an advancement of a standard material dependent on observational information. This will help address the most incessant blunders that students submit in explicit phonetic regions. 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 University. Earthy colored, H. (2000). Standards of language learning and educating. Britain: Longman. James, C. (1998). Mistakes in language learning and use. London: Addison Wesley Longman Limited. Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage in mistake examination: Perspectives in second language obtaining. Jack C. Richards, (Ed. ). London: Longman Group Limited. Author’s Profile Mark Arthur Payumo Abalos shows school English, composing (explanatory, 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 fills in as an English language program facilitator at John Robert Powers International and an IELTS specialist 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 examine centers around the noteworthiness of interlanguage syntax and blunder investigation in creating ELT materials. You can contact him at [emailâ protected] com.