Error analysis : an examination of the English composition of Year IV pupils

Abstract

This dissertation is concerned with an analysis of errors in two samples of English writing of a small number of Maltese Year IV (Primary School) pupils. One sample was taken at the be5inning of a scholastic year, and the second at the end. A number of areas of the pupils' interlanguage viz., morphology, syntax, and lexis are analysed and errors discussed with reference to the various theories of second language learning and error analysis. The developments in the pupils' interlanguage over the interval between the first and the second test, especially in selected morphemes are examined in the light of hypotheses relating to the natural sequence of morpheme acquisition. Finally some implications for the teaching of English as a second language deriving from this analysis are discussed.