Frequently Observed Grammatical Errors of Japanese EFL Learners: Their Theoretical Implications

This preliminary study investigates what grammatical errors are most frequently observed in Japanese EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners even after the six years of English learning. By a series of free writing tasks, 2691 English sentences were collected from 28 Japanese EFL learners. We identified 882 grammatical errors in the dataset with respect to five major types: determiner, preposition, subject-verb agreement for be-verbs, subject-verb agreement for general verbs, and number agreement within a noun phrase. The ratios of the number of grammatical errors to that of obligatory contexts in which those particular grammatical items must occur were 61.1%, 10.9%, 2.6%, 5.7%, and 18.2%, respectively. There are three major findings: (i) Japanese EFL learners make errors in the determiner most frequently, (ii) they make errors in subject-verb agreement more frequently for general verbs compared to be-verbs, and (iii) they make errors in the determiner more often compared to agreement. Their theoretical implications are discussed

The Innateness of Human Language: Viewing from Grammatical Errors of Second Language Learners

We explore a new approach to the long-standing issue in linguistics: of whether knowledge of language is innate or not. To this empirical issue, a variety of approaches have been proposed, but the purpose of the present study is not to deny those approaches bur rather to examine a new one for further verification of the innateness hypothesis. Our new approach is based on the methodology adopted in first language acquisition. Concretely, if a second language learner produces a string of words which is neither accepted grammatically in the target language nor attributed to their first language transfer but can be analyzed as a corresponding grammatically accepted structure in another language, then it follows that he/she can access to knowledge of the language to which he/she is never exposed and thus that knowledge of all particular languages is innately available. As a preliminary study, we analyze the relevant errors of Japanese-speaking learners of English and consider future issues for our new approach. 言語知識が生得的であるか否かは言語学における長年の課題であるが、本研究はその課題に対して新たなアプローチを探る。言語知識の生得性という経験的課題に対して、これまでさまざまなアプローチが提案されてきたが、本研究の目的はそれらのアプローチを否定することではなく、新たなアプローチを検討し、言語生得説に対するさらなる検証に貢献することである。新たなアプローチは第一言語獲得で採用されている方法論に基づいている。具体的には、第二言語学習者が、目標言語で文法的に容認されず、学習者の母語による干渉にも帰因しないが、他の言語では文法的に容認される構造であると分析できるような文を産出したとしたら、当該学習者は一度も経験したことのない言語に関する知識にアクセスしたことになり、すべての個別言語に関する知識は生得的に利用可能ということになる。 予備的な研究として、日本人英語学習者が産出するこのような誤りを分析し、新たなアプローチに対する今後の課題を検討する

A Preliminary Study on Why Second Language Learners Accept Ungrammatical Sentences: Its Theoretical Implications

Why do second language learners sometimes accept ungrammatical sentences in the target language? In the present study, we focus on Japanese-speaking learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and investigate whether such “grammatical illusion” effect would be observed in them and whether the effect could be dependent on their proficiency.　The results of one acceptability judgment questionnaire experiment and of one preliminary self-paced reading experiment are reported.　The results of the questionnaire experiment showed that the lower-proficiency Japanese EFL learners were more likely to accept ungrammatical sentences in English compared to the higher-proficiency learners.　The results of the self-paced reading experiment indicated that the reading time difference between ungrammatical sentences and their grammatical counterparts was significant for one native English speaker but not for two Japanese EFL learners.　It is suggested that the “grammatical illusion” effect (i.e., erroneous acceptance of ungrammatical sentences) in second language learners is more likely to be observed when their proficiency is lower, and possibly that second language learners can accept ungrammatical sentences during their real-time processing.　We discuss a new approach to second language acquisition from the perspective of the grammatical illusion phenomenon

Effective Teaching and Efficient Learning in English Language Education at School in Japan: The Grammatical-Illusion Turn

Generally observed, it is more difficult to acquire English as a second language than as a native language. More specifically, it is more difficult to learn English as a foreign language than as a second language. Why is this the case? To answer this question is theoretically intriguing, but practically or educationally it is important to achieve effective teaching and consequently efficient learning in consideration of this learning difficulty. The present study investigates the offline and online processing of English sentences by Japanese-speaking learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the light of the phenomenon of so-called ʻgram-matical illusionʼ phenomenon, and proposes that it is important to note that every aspect of the teaching of English should not be viewed with the same emphasis, recognizing that some grammatical characteristics of English are harder to learn and others easier. In this paper, we focus on four grammatical items of English: definite and indefinite determiners, be-verbs, and general verbs. The results of the on-line self-paced experi-ment showed that Japanese-speaking EFL learners treated ungrammatical sentences erroneously as gram-matical more frequently when processing definite determiners compared to indefinite determiners and when processing general verbs with third-person singular subjects in the present tense compared to be-verbs and other types of general verbs. The results of off-line acceptability judgment experiment showed no such grammatical illusions at all. Taking this grammatical-illusion phenomenon as evidence for predicting the difficulty order of acquisition, we specifically propose that in the English-learning classroom, more empha-sis on (definite) determiners and general verbs with the so-called ʻthird-person-singular -sʼ could lead to more effective teaching and efficient learning for Japanese-speakers EFL learners

Knowledge Cycle among Theoretical Linguistics, Psycho-linguistics, and Foreign-language Learning: Its Theoretical Implications

In linguistic research, theoretical linguistics, psycho-linguistics, and foreign-language learning have been studied in their own ways. To establish their organic relationship, I will propose a model of knowledge cycle. A driving force for the cycle is sentences containing grammatical errors made by foreign-language learners (e.g., *John like apples). The ungrammaticalness of each sentence can be tested by psycho-linguistic experiments such as acceptability judgments, reaction-time tasks. Attested ungrammatical sentences can be used for theory construction in theoretical linguistics. Insights gained through such error analysis can be applied to devise effective input for efficient learning of foreign languages. Based on further learning, learners produce a new set of ungrammatical sentences, which drives the cycle again. In this paper, I will describe the proposal and discuss its theoretical implications. Particularly, I will adopt the generative syntactic framework and analyze some of the ungrammatical sentences collected from Japanese learners of English as a foreign language. The results show that among three factors (Merge, interface conditions, and natural laws), interface conditions, particularly conceptual-intentional (CI) interface conditions, are crucial to account for the ungrammaticality