（外国语言学及应用语言学专业论文）大学英语口语课堂纠错研究.pdf

重庆大学硕士学位论文 中文摘要 i 摘摘 要要 本论文“大学英语口语课堂纠错研究” ， 采用课堂观察，问卷调查和访谈三种 调查手段，探讨了中国大学课堂环境下非英语专业学生英语口语纠错现状，以及 教师与学生对口语课堂纠错的态度和看法。重点调查了教师对口语课堂纠错的理 念，做法，以及学生的自我纠错能力。研究对象涉及重庆大学 34 名大学英语口语 教师和 115 名非英语专业大二学生，共 149 人。 本研究主要采用定性研究试图为以下几个研究问题提供答案： 英语口语课堂纠 错现状；大学英语口语教师的纠错理念；英语教师在口语课堂上采用的纠错方式； 学生对课堂纠错的看法与期望以及学生在英语口语课堂上的自我纠错意识与能 力。 通过此次调查，得出以下主要结论： 第一， 英语教师对口语课堂纠错有自己的理念，但是对于何时纠，如何纠以 及谁来纠等问题在看法上和做法上不一致，而这可能影响到纠错的效果。为了做 到有效纠错，作者建议他们重构对纠错的理念，做到知行统一，并能在课堂中加 以有效应用。 第二， 口语课堂上，教师以自己认为有效的方式来进行纠错，他们偏重 “用 正确的方式重说”这一纠错方式，原因是课堂时间有限，他们认为直接纠错能够 立竿见影。但是有一点可以肯定的是他们能够做到纠错上因人而异。针对这种情 况，结合学生的需求，作者建议教师结合多种纠错方式进行口语纠错，如果可能， 可把学生口语错误集中起来在学生发言后进行总结性纠错。 第三， 学生对口语课堂纠错也有自己的看法与期望。在课堂上他们表现过于 被动，依赖性强，自我纠错意识以及能力都偏低。因此他们期望在口语课堂上教 师能够对口语纠错负全责。这种情况下，作者建议教师在课堂上应该有意识地培 养并加强学生自我纠错的意识与能力。在课堂上教师与学生可以共同承担纠错责 任，做到有效纠错。 关键词：纠错，自我纠错，英语口语课堂 重庆大学硕士学位论文 abstract ii abstract this thesis “a study on in-class oral error correction for non-english majors in a chinese context” explores teachers and students views on error correction in oral english classroom as well as the actual practice of in-class oral english error correction. the focus of the present study is to know teachers conceptions and practice on error correction, and students ability of self-correction in oral english classroom as well. three instruments (i.e. classroom observation, interview, and questionnaire survey) are employed to address the following issues: the current situation of in-class oral english error correction; teachers conceptions on error correction；the ways teachers take for error correction; learners perspectives and expectations on error correction; and learners awareness and ability of self-correction. the major findings of the present study are briefly summarized as follows: first, teachers have their own conceptions on error correction in oral english classroom; however, their conceptions on when, how and who to do error correction are unmatched with the actual practice, and which may affect the effectiveness of in-class oral error correction. thus, the author holds that teachers may reconstruct their conceptions on error correction and try to achieve the unity of knowing and doing. second, teachers use recasts most to do error correction in oral english class with few other techniques. the reason is that they think this way is effective under the circumstance of time constrain. but there is one positive pointthat is, they can take students different traits into consideration. in order to do error correction effectively, the author suggests that teachers may combine some techniques together to do error correction in oral english classroom, and if possible, teachers may collect the oral errors and do error correction together after students speeches in the classroom. third, students have their views and expectations on error correction, but they have got used to depending on their teachers, hence, they take for granted that their teachers should do error correction in oral english classroom. therefore, the author suggests that teachers should enhance their awareness and ability to do self-correction in oral english classroom. to achieve the effectiveness, teachers may share the responsibility to do in-class oral english error correction with their students. key words: error correction, self-correction, oral english classroom 重庆大学硕士学位论文 list of tables v list of tables table 3.1 contents of tq table 3.2 contents of sq table 3.3 participating teachers profiles table 4.1 summary of the classroom observation table 4.2 the number of error correction ways and types of errors table 4.3 the situation of the present oral class table 4.4 the timing of error correction. table 4.5 students views on who should do error correction in oral english classroom. table 4.6 after error correction, the possibility of making the same errors. 重庆大学硕士学位论文 list of figures vi list of figures figure 2.1 the procedures of error analysis figure 2.2 longs model of the decision-making process prior to the teacher feedback move figure 4.1 ways to improve oral english figure 4.2 teachers views of the necessity of error correction figure 4.3 reason 1: students expectations to do error correction figure 4.4 reason 2: students need to be corrected in the classroom figure 4.5 students views on necessity of teachers error correction in oral english classroom. figure 4.6 students attitudes towards teachers error correction in oral english classroom figure 4.7 types of errors corrected by teachers 重庆大学硕士学位论文 list of abbreviations vii list of abbreviations ca constructive analysis cet national college english test colt communicative orientation of language teaching ea error analysis efl english as a foreign language mc multiple choice nl native language sq questionnaire for students sts. students tl target language tq questionnaire for teachers ts teachers 重庆大学硕士学位论文 chapter one introduction 1 chapter one introduction 1.1 background of the study error is common to humans, and a language error can be defined as an unsuccessful bit of language. with the development of language teaching theory, errors are regarded as a natural part of language learning, which is true of the development of a childs first language as well as of second language learning by children and adults. errors show learners where they have overgeneralized a second language rule or where they have inappropriately transferred a first language rule to the second language. when learning a foreign language, error is inevitable, and it has been seen as a positive part in the process of language learning and the reflection of a learners stage of interlanguage development. how do errors occur; what are the reasons of the occurrence of such errors and how to treat learners errors, all of which have become hot issues in the field of applied linguistics and psycholinguistics. in recent years, researchers and teachers (such as hedge, 2000; brown, 2002) have realized that second language learning is a creative process of constructing a system in which learners are consciously testing hypotheses about target language. for learners, foreign language learning is trial-and-error process, and making errors is inevitable in language learning. the reasons why teachers should correct errors and how they should do it are topics of constant debate. although some researchers hold that error correction is ineffective as a means of improving student writing (cohen radecki hu jian 2004) are carried out. thus the present study has its theoretical significance. some teachers and researchers hold the view that the goal of in-class oral english learning is for communication. if there is no misunderstanding in the process of the communication, then it is regarded as successful communication. however, the author assumes that if the error remains there, students may not know their errors forever, and which may affect their future language study. therefore, the author holds that error correction is a must in oral english classroom. besides, even in the same class, students levels in language learning are different, and accordingly, the author suggests that in-class oral english correction should take the different traits of students into consideration. furthermore, the study also has practical significance. it is based on the conviction of error correction and error correction researches are significant in the efl teaching and learning. it can help teachers to understand who should assume the responsibility for correcting students oral errors, the results of the study may provide information concerning how to deal with students oral errors. on the other hand, teachers can understand students expectations on oral error correction, such as what to correct; when to correct and how to correct. then they may improve their learning and teaching methods to benefit students in the process of error correction. moreover, this study is undertaken to study oral english error correction in the classroom, which is neglected for a long time. it is hoped that the study will contribute to the future investigation in this regard. 1.3 the overall structure of the study this thesis is composed of the following six chapters: chapter one gives a general description of the study, the background, needs and significances for the study and the overall structure of the thesis. chapter two first reviews some relevant theories, mainly error analysis theory and error correction in applied linguistics and sla, then it goes on to review some studies that are relevant to the present study over the past two decades at home and abroad. chapter three consists of the following parts: 1) hypotheses and research questions in the present study; 2) the study method: three instruments, i.e. classroom observation, interview and questionnaires are described in detail; 3) subjects of the study and 4) data 重庆大学硕士学位论文 chapter one introduction 4 collection. chapter four is the data analysis part, in which data collected from the three instruments are analyzed accordingly. chapter five presents the findings and discussion of the study. mainly it discusses as the findings in reference to the research questions and examines the hypotheses. the last chapter presents major findings, limitations, educational implications of the present study, and also provides suggestions for further study. 重庆大学硕士学位论文 chapter two literature review 5 chapter two literature review in this chapter, relevant literature is reviewed to find out whether it is theoretically and practically sound to do error correction. first, the thesis introduces relevant theories: the role of errors in language teaching, the ea theory and the theories of error correction. for error correction, four aspects are discussed, and they are how to do error correction; the timing of error correction; who should do error correction and ways of error correction. moreover, the important part of this chapter is the researches at home and abroad: chinese studies and empirical studies of western countries are reviewed. 2.1 error and its role in language learning teachers attitudes and views toward errors largely influence their behaviors in language teaching. from 1950s to 1970s, audiolingual method was popular and errors were compared to “sins”, at that time, “learners are viewed as organisms that can be directed by skilled training techniques to produce correct responses” (richards 2) find out how the learner learns the second language; 3) obtain information on common difficulties in second language learning; 4) serve as an aid in teaching or in the preparation of teaching materials. (qtd in wang lifei, 2000) 2.2.2 procedures of ea pit corder (1971) put forward to the following five procedures of error analysis: 1) selection: this involves deciding on the size of the sample, the medium to be sampled, and the homogeneity of the sample. 2) identification: this involves distinguishing lapses from errors. 3) classification: this involves assigning a grammatical description to each error. 4) explanation: this involves attempts to identify the psycholinguistic cause of the error. 重庆大学硕士学位论文 chapter two literature review 7 5) evaluation: this involves assessing the seriousness of each error in order to take principled teaching decisions. wang lifei (2000) points out that error analysis generally consists of five stages, namely, identification, description, explanation, evaluation and correction. and the procedures of error analysis show as the following: figure 2.1 the procedures of error analysis in recent years, we can see that error correction in the classroom has become a hot issue, and it has been discussed a lot. however, whether or not to perform the role of diagnoser and corrector of errors is only the first step. if we decide to undertake this role, we will need a careful policy for making decisions about what, when, and how to correct (hedge, 2002). 2.2.3 significance of ea corder (1967) notes “a learners errors are significant in that they provide to the researcher evidence of how language is learned or acquired, what strategies or procedures the learner is employing in the discovery of the language”. the significance of ea lies in that it sheds new light on teaching pedagogy. it not only helps to compare and evaluate different students language competence but also helps to decide on remedial actions to take. ea has a long tradition. it was not until the late 1960s, however, that a lot of attention was drawn to errors. the context for the new interest in errors is the recognition that they provide information about the process of acquisition. the most significant contribution of ea, apart from the role it plays in the reassessment of the contrastive analysis hypothesis, lies in its success in elevating the status of errors from undesirability to that of a guide to the inner workings of the language learning process. as a result of interlanguage theory and the evidence accumulated from ea, errors were description of errorsexplanation of errors evaluation of errors identification of errors correction of errors 重庆大学硕士学位论文 chapter two literature review 8 no longer seen as unwanted forms, but as evidence of the learners active contribution to sla. to sum up, ea has provided a new insight into learners errors and it has “given it a more decent position” (ellis, 1985). 2.3 sources of errors before talking about error correction, we must notice some questions, such as the sources of errors and the types of errors. if we know the answers of these questions we may have the good understanding of doing error correction effectively. 2.3.1 types of errors there is no fixed standard to do error classification in the procedure of ea. corder (1974) classifies errors into three types: pre-systematic error, systematic error and post-systematic error. while gass and selinker (2001) mention that there are two main error types within an error analysis framework: interlingual and intralingual. for him, interlingual errors are those that can be attributed to the nl (i.e., they involve cross-linguistic comparisons). intralingual errors are those that are due to the language being learned, independent of the nl. richards (1971) discusses intralingual and developmental errors which excludes errors caused by the interference of learners mother tongue. he defines intralingual errors as those which reflect the general characteristics of rule learning, such as faulty generalization, incomplete application of rules, and failure to learn conditions under which rules apply. developmental errors illustrate the learner attempting to build up hypotheses about the english language from his limited experience of it in the classroom or textbook. from richards study we can conclude that he mentions three types of errors, namely, errors caused by mother tongue, intralingual errors and developmental errors. since we have known some types of errors, we may want to know the reasons of these errors occur. 2.3.2 causes of errors the procedure of explanation in ea is mainly to explain why errors occur. gass and selinger (2001) identify five apparent sources of errors in the development of l2 learners interlanguage. they are (1) language transfer, (2) overgeneralization of target language rules, (3) strategies of second language learning, (4) transfer of training, and (5) strategies of l2 communication. brown (2002) raises four main sources of errors: interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer, context of learning and communicative strategies. 重庆大学硕士学位论文 chapter two literature review 9 transfer theory proposed by psycholinguists holds that mother tongue affects the foreign language learning, especially negative transfer. brown (2002) points out that transfer is a general term describing the carryover of previous performance or knowledge to subsequent learning. he defines the positive transfer and negative transfer in the succession. positive transfer occurs when the prior knowledge benefits the learning task-that is, when a previous item is correctly applied to present subject matter. negative transfer occurs when the previous performance disrupts the performance on a second task. the latter can be referred to as interference. the behaviorists think that making errors in foreign language learning results in negative transfer (shu dingfang the communication activities will move on without any interference; students different needs are taken into consideration; teachers and students can choose the timing of error correction; and students can do self-correction first. hu jian (2004) explores error correction strategies, theories and methods in the instructional context of college english teaching. her study suggests that teachers employ different error treatment strategies according to error gravity; a balance of different error correction pattern selected in the light of effectively, contextual factors, learners preference and learner linguistic competence is like to work more successfully than overusing one or two correction patterns. these studies are carried out in the chinese context, but the problems of when, how and whom to do error correction in oral english classroom remain unaddressed. 2.5.2 empirical studies of western countries a great deal of researches tend to pay more attention to the effects of doing error correction. krashen (1982) points out that in acquiring a first language, a young child takes little notice of parental correction