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ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study was to investigate whether Chinese university English learners’ errors in IL are subject to fossilization or prone to be permanently remediated. This study also examined the patterns of errors in their written discourses and how the errors impacted on the foreign language learning. Forty-six first to third year Chinese university learners of English enrolled in an English writing course program participated in the study. Two separate writing tasks were assigned to the learners before and after the program to collect the errors contained in their writing samples. Two analyses of the errors from each set of samples were performed. It shows the remedial instruction exerted a very positive impact on correcting the errors. Given remedial instruction with output practice are accessible， most errors in IL are not subject to fossilization but liable to be permanently remediated.
KEY WORDS： errors， interference， transfer， concept， interlanguage， fossilization
INTRODUCTION
When learning a foreign language， most learners are liable to errors. It’s common to notice errors of some kinds in the target language， even if the learners are very advanced. Generally speaking， the errors are deemed as a part of the learning process in which they stride towards the ultimate goal， a native or nativelike level in TL （Target Language）. A variety of causes， such as short attention span， native language interference， or inaccurate understanding of TL abstract principles are held responsible for the errors. To many intermediate and advanced learners， studying a new language is not a rote memorization of explicit rules but a creative process of constructing and testing their hypotheses on the language system. It is not surprising that research literature sees errors as a way for probing into learning strategies used by the learners. The Error analysis can provide us with a profound view on the interlanguage system of those learners.
*本文系2013年湖南省教研教改项目 （编号153）“交互理论指导下的大学英语课堂教学革新”阶段性成果
OVERVIEW
Syntactic and morphological errors in written English samples covering areas of word phrases， sentence formation， word inflection and derivation by first to third year Chinese university learners of English can be grouped into 20 categories below. Subordination （1） *The animal dug a hole which it escaped during the night. Run-on （2） *Jason always works magic with computers he can’t repair that Mac. Fragment （3） *While those employees were working in the US.” Dangling Modifier （4） *Not having reviewed the safety procedure， the factory worker’s left arm was severely hurt. Plurality （5） *Business leaders from around the world returned to their home country. Capitalization （6） Erica’s field of study was Management and she took the international trade Course. Spelling . The errors categorized by patterns of morphological and syntactic deviance reflect the immaturity in using TL. Not knowing what constitute a complete sentence and having inadequate knowledge of condensing a sentence into words， the learners seek to construct their IL （interlanguage） system that completely conforms to neither TL nor NL （Native Language） rules. Selinker was the first to propose the concept of IL. He maintained that IL is a linguistic system that draws on both the learner’s NL and TL. At a point of learning the TL， the learner somehow constructs a unique system of the foreign language setting itself apart from both TL and NL. IL contains certain features of TL but displays unique learner formulated principles based on the available TL material. The learner’s NL also exerts influence on learning TL. Thus IL can be viewed as an outcome of interaction of the learner’s TL and NL. From a cognitive point of view， the learner derives rules from the TL learning material and consciously applies the rules to compensate the deficiency in producing output. The cognitive process of abstracting TL principles， just like other mental activities such as reasoning and problem solving is susceptible to fallacy. Fossilization， initially proposed by Selinker is one of the most important factors in second language acquisition. According to Selinker， a second language learner will keep certain linguistic features such as items， rules and subsystems deviant from TL in his or her IL system regardless of what age the learner is or what instruction the learner receives. Researchers naturally wondered why most learners at some point stop progressing toward the ultimate goal of reaching native or nativelike proficiency in TL while a mere 5% of the learners succeed in overcoming fossilization. Despite enough exposure to TL input， fully motivated spirit and adequate occasions to practice， Han claimed most second language learners cease to progress towards achieving a native-level command of TL. The issue of fossilization is a widely recognized fact of learning a foreign language. It becomes a subject of intense interest for research linguists since people believe in a learner’s ability to master a foreign language. The previous research literature identified factors from various aspects that account for fossilization in second language learning. According to Towell and Howkins （1994）， those factors are psycholinguistic， sociolinguistic， and neurolinguistic. Psycholinguists investigate how brain process and comprehend the linguistic input. Sociolinguists strive to find the impact of social aspects such as cultural identity， social norms and context on acquiring the TL. Neurolinguistic focus on how brain comprehends and produces language from a neurological perspective. In a research work on a number of factors correlated with fossilization， Han further condensed the factors into four broad categories， namely cognitive， environmental， socio-affective and neurobiological. Hence Han provided two basic tools， one of macroscopic nature， the other of microscopic nature for studying the fossilization of errors in second language learning. The macroscopic tool probes into the general causes but the microscopic tool emphasizes on individual specific causes. With regards to microscopic causes， a number of variables have been indentified to explain the fossilization of errors， for example， memory and motivation. Methodology
Research participants were composed of 46 first to third year Chinese university learners of English enrolled in an English writing course program. The average age of the participants was 19 with 17 being the youngest and 21 being the oldest. The study was designed to provide the answers to the following questions that investigate the nature and impact of fossilization of the learners’ errors. Research question （1） What types of errors occur in the written discourses？ Research question （2） What impact do the errors have on foreign language learning？ Research question （3） What impact does the remedial instruction have on correcting the errors？ Research question （4） Are the errors fossilized or can they be permanently remediated？ The discussion of the research results may have some implications for language teaching professionals in terms of dealing with the fossilization of learners’ errors. This study focused on investigating macroscopic factors on the fossilization of learners’ errors as the majority is relatively stable and not individual specific. Therefore， the results may stand a better chance of being generated to a larger population. At the initial stage of the study， the researcher assigned a free writing task （300 word length） to all participants. They were encouraged to write on any topic they preferred to write such as campus life， relationship， future career， leisure activities or even fantasies. The purpose of the writing task was to elicit a response to a preferred topic that serves as a reflection of their IL systems. An analysis of the errors on their writing samples was performed to sort out patterns in view of morphology and syntax. After that， 10 researcher designed instructional sessions on TL grammar， each of which was 50 minutes in length， were delivered to them 2-3 weeks apart for rectifying 20 types of grammar errors. Teaching activities included researcher delivered instruction on the targeted grammar， writing assignments and individual tutoring on specific aspects of the language features that posed challenges to some participants. The activities were aimed to facilitate the learner’s process of acquiring TL grammar. At the last stage of the study， having reviewed their previous writing samples respectively， all participants were immediately requested to complete another writing task on a similar topic. The word length is limited to 400 words and 50 minutes was assigned to complete the task. The activity was implemented to investigate the effect of TL grammar program on rectifying the participants’ errors. Discussion
The analysis of the errors on the participants’ first writing samples was performed indicating a total number of 549 grammar error counts with 212 counts of morphological errors and 337 counts of syntactic errors. On average， a participant committed 12 errors with the highest record of 34 error counts for one sample and the lowest of 7 error counts. As shown in the overview section， the errors can be broken down into 20 types below. The impact of the errors on learning English as a foreign language and typical remedial measures taken for enhancing their awareness of the grammatical concepts were discussed. Subordination （1） *The animal dug a hole which it escaped during the night. （Correct： The animal dug a hole through which it escaped during the night.） The error may not interfere with the comprehension but shows the learner’s deficiency in using attributive clauses. Obviously the lack of similar structures in NL resulted in the poor maneuver of attributive clauses. A complex sentence containing an attributive clause can be decomposed into two complete sentences. “which” refers to a hole. So the incorrect complex sentence can be divided into two portions. The first part is “The animal dug a hole.” The second part is “it escaped the hole during the night.” which is incorrect. Run-on （2） *Jason always works magic with computers he can’t repair that Mac. （Correct： Jason always works magic with computers， but he can’t repair that Mac.） Apparently the learner combined the two complete ideas into one sentence， making it long and difficult to comprehend. A correct way to fix it is separating one clause from the other with a comma and a conjunction. Fragment （3） *While those employees were working in the US.” （Correct： While those employees were working in the US， they saw a few hot spots in big cities.） This indicates the learner’s IL system was flawed as they hadn’t developed a clear concept of what constitute a complex English sentence. The example does not express a complete idea and the sentence isn’t finished yet. Just like ‘Although he tried hard to find a stapler，” is not a complete complex sentence with a dependent clause only. Dangling Modifier （4） *Not having reviewed the safety procedure， the factory worker’s left arm was severely hurt. （Correct： Not having reviewed the safety procedure， the factory worker got his left arm severely hurt.） The dangling modifier “Not having reviewed the safety procedure” does not modify any sentence element clearly stated. Who was the one that hadn’t reviewed the procedure？ The dangling modifier interferes with comprehending the meaning. It is obvious that when producing a dangling modifier， the learner is influenced by NL as a native speaker would read the factory worker’s left arm hadn’t reviewed the safety procedure， and that makes no sense. Plurality （5） *Business leaders from around the world returned to their home country. （Correct： Business leaders from around the world returned to their home countries）. This is a typical example of NL interference as a noun in Chinese has no plural form. Business leaders could have returned to their home country provided they all had come from one country. However， the leaders came from around the world. Capitalization （6） Erica’s field of study was Management and she took the international trade Course. （Correct： Erica’s field of study was management and she took the International Trade course.） Chinese speakers use characters instead of letters so capitalization proved to be hard for them. The learner had no way of making any positive transfer. Spelling.It’s clear that the learner formulated a skewed concept of conjunctions in IL and the TL rules were oversimplified to communicate ideas in writing. Upon the completion of the second writing assignments， another analysis of the errors on the participants’ second writing samples was performed indicating a total number of 187 grammar error counts with 82 counts of morphological errors and 105 counts of syntactic errors. On average， a participant committed 4 errors with the highest record of 6 error counts for one sample and the lowest of 2 error counts. That shows the instructional sessions on TL grammar greatly reduced the number of errors by the participants. Conclusion
The data analysis results show that learners are prone to commit more syntactic errors than morphological errors as the participants’ syntactic errors consistently outnumbered their morphological errors across the two writing tasks. However， remedial instruction in TL grammar reduced the ratio of the total number of syntactic errors to the total number of morphological errors in the second writing samples as it dropped from 1.59 to 1.28. Further research may be conducted to investigate the causes for the drop. The grammatical errors can interfere with the intended meaning of the writing discourses. However， they also serve as a passageway to the learners’ IL. By examining the effect of NL interference， negative transfer， simplification of TL rules， and overgeneralization of TL rules on the learners’ output， a researcher/course program designer may detect their deficiencies in TL grammar and develop remedial procedures for predicting and correcting the errors. Many of the learners’ errors have their origins in skewed concepts of TL grammar due to the lack of corresponding concepts in NL or the negative transfer of NL. The researcher-designed instruction that utilizes TL directly to formulate proper concepts proved to be immune to NL transfer. Direct application of TL to concept formation rid learners of referring to a comparable NL concept in case it’s unavailable. The remedial instruction apparently exerted a very positive impact on correcting the errors， reducing the number to a small size. The majority of the errors were successfully remediated after the instructional sessions were completed. This leads to the conclusion that most errors in IL are not subject to fossilization but liable to be permanently remediated as long as the learners are adequately exposed to remedial instruction with ample opportunities for output.
REFERENCES
Chaudron， C. （1988）. Second Language Classrooms， Cambridge， Cambridge
University Press.
Crain， Stephen. （1991）. Language acquisition in the absence of experience， Behavioural and Brain Sciences 4， 565-643.
Han， Zhaohong. （2005）. Fossilization in Adult Second Language Acquisition. Toronto： Multilingual Matters.
Hankamer， J. （1979）. Deletion in coordinate structures. New York： Garland.
Lardiere， D. （1998）. Case and tense in the fossilized steady state. Second Language Research， 14， 3-17.
Lenneberg， E.H. （1976）. Biological Foundations of Language. New York： Wiley.
Omaggio， Alice C. （1986）. Teaching Language in Context： Proficiency-Oriented Instruction. Boston： Heinle & Heinle，
Selinker， Larry. （1977）. “Interlanguage.” In Jack C. Richards （Ed.） Error Analysis： Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition. London： Longman.
*本文系2013年湖南省教研教改项目 （编号153）“交互理论指导下的大学英语课堂教学革新”阶段性成果
The purpose of the study was to investigate whether Chinese university English learners’ errors in IL are subject to fossilization or prone to be permanently remediated. This study also examined the patterns of errors in their written discourses and how the errors impacted on the foreign language learning. Forty-six first to third year Chinese university learners of English enrolled in an English writing course program participated in the study. Two separate writing tasks were assigned to the learners before and after the program to collect the errors contained in their writing samples. Two analyses of the errors from each set of samples were performed. It shows the remedial instruction exerted a very positive impact on correcting the errors. Given remedial instruction with output practice are accessible， most errors in IL are not subject to fossilization but liable to be permanently remediated.
KEY WORDS： errors， interference， transfer， concept， interlanguage， fossilization
INTRODUCTION
When learning a foreign language， most learners are liable to errors. It’s common to notice errors of some kinds in the target language， even if the learners are very advanced. Generally speaking， the errors are deemed as a part of the learning process in which they stride towards the ultimate goal， a native or nativelike level in TL （Target Language）. A variety of causes， such as short attention span， native language interference， or inaccurate understanding of TL abstract principles are held responsible for the errors. To many intermediate and advanced learners， studying a new language is not a rote memorization of explicit rules but a creative process of constructing and testing their hypotheses on the language system. It is not surprising that research literature sees errors as a way for probing into learning strategies used by the learners. The Error analysis can provide us with a profound view on the interlanguage system of those learners.
*本文系2013年湖南省教研教改项目 （编号153）“交互理论指导下的大学英语课堂教学革新”阶段性成果
OVERVIEW
Syntactic and morphological errors in written English samples covering areas of word phrases， sentence formation， word inflection and derivation by first to third year Chinese university learners of English can be grouped into 20 categories below. Subordination （1） *The animal dug a hole which it escaped during the night. Run-on （2） *Jason always works magic with computers he can’t repair that Mac. Fragment （3） *While those employees were working in the US.” Dangling Modifier （4） *Not having reviewed the safety procedure， the factory worker’s left arm was severely hurt. Plurality （5） *Business leaders from around the world returned to their home country. Capitalization （6） Erica’s field of study was Management and she took the international trade Course. Spelling . The errors categorized by patterns of morphological and syntactic deviance reflect the immaturity in using TL. Not knowing what constitute a complete sentence and having inadequate knowledge of condensing a sentence into words， the learners seek to construct their IL （interlanguage） system that completely conforms to neither TL nor NL （Native Language） rules. Selinker was the first to propose the concept of IL. He maintained that IL is a linguistic system that draws on both the learner’s NL and TL. At a point of learning the TL， the learner somehow constructs a unique system of the foreign language setting itself apart from both TL and NL. IL contains certain features of TL but displays unique learner formulated principles based on the available TL material. The learner’s NL also exerts influence on learning TL. Thus IL can be viewed as an outcome of interaction of the learner’s TL and NL. From a cognitive point of view， the learner derives rules from the TL learning material and consciously applies the rules to compensate the deficiency in producing output. The cognitive process of abstracting TL principles， just like other mental activities such as reasoning and problem solving is susceptible to fallacy. Fossilization， initially proposed by Selinker is one of the most important factors in second language acquisition. According to Selinker， a second language learner will keep certain linguistic features such as items， rules and subsystems deviant from TL in his or her IL system regardless of what age the learner is or what instruction the learner receives. Researchers naturally wondered why most learners at some point stop progressing toward the ultimate goal of reaching native or nativelike proficiency in TL while a mere 5% of the learners succeed in overcoming fossilization. Despite enough exposure to TL input， fully motivated spirit and adequate occasions to practice， Han claimed most second language learners cease to progress towards achieving a native-level command of TL. The issue of fossilization is a widely recognized fact of learning a foreign language. It becomes a subject of intense interest for research linguists since people believe in a learner’s ability to master a foreign language. The previous research literature identified factors from various aspects that account for fossilization in second language learning. According to Towell and Howkins （1994）， those factors are psycholinguistic， sociolinguistic， and neurolinguistic. Psycholinguists investigate how brain process and comprehend the linguistic input. Sociolinguists strive to find the impact of social aspects such as cultural identity， social norms and context on acquiring the TL. Neurolinguistic focus on how brain comprehends and produces language from a neurological perspective. In a research work on a number of factors correlated with fossilization， Han further condensed the factors into four broad categories， namely cognitive， environmental， socio-affective and neurobiological. Hence Han provided two basic tools， one of macroscopic nature， the other of microscopic nature for studying the fossilization of errors in second language learning. The macroscopic tool probes into the general causes but the microscopic tool emphasizes on individual specific causes. With regards to microscopic causes， a number of variables have been indentified to explain the fossilization of errors， for example， memory and motivation. Methodology
Research participants were composed of 46 first to third year Chinese university learners of English enrolled in an English writing course program. The average age of the participants was 19 with 17 being the youngest and 21 being the oldest. The study was designed to provide the answers to the following questions that investigate the nature and impact of fossilization of the learners’ errors. Research question （1） What types of errors occur in the written discourses？ Research question （2） What impact do the errors have on foreign language learning？ Research question （3） What impact does the remedial instruction have on correcting the errors？ Research question （4） Are the errors fossilized or can they be permanently remediated？ The discussion of the research results may have some implications for language teaching professionals in terms of dealing with the fossilization of learners’ errors. This study focused on investigating macroscopic factors on the fossilization of learners’ errors as the majority is relatively stable and not individual specific. Therefore， the results may stand a better chance of being generated to a larger population. At the initial stage of the study， the researcher assigned a free writing task （300 word length） to all participants. They were encouraged to write on any topic they preferred to write such as campus life， relationship， future career， leisure activities or even fantasies. The purpose of the writing task was to elicit a response to a preferred topic that serves as a reflection of their IL systems. An analysis of the errors on their writing samples was performed to sort out patterns in view of morphology and syntax. After that， 10 researcher designed instructional sessions on TL grammar， each of which was 50 minutes in length， were delivered to them 2-3 weeks apart for rectifying 20 types of grammar errors. Teaching activities included researcher delivered instruction on the targeted grammar， writing assignments and individual tutoring on specific aspects of the language features that posed challenges to some participants. The activities were aimed to facilitate the learner’s process of acquiring TL grammar. At the last stage of the study， having reviewed their previous writing samples respectively， all participants were immediately requested to complete another writing task on a similar topic. The word length is limited to 400 words and 50 minutes was assigned to complete the task. The activity was implemented to investigate the effect of TL grammar program on rectifying the participants’ errors. Discussion
The analysis of the errors on the participants’ first writing samples was performed indicating a total number of 549 grammar error counts with 212 counts of morphological errors and 337 counts of syntactic errors. On average， a participant committed 12 errors with the highest record of 34 error counts for one sample and the lowest of 7 error counts. As shown in the overview section， the errors can be broken down into 20 types below. The impact of the errors on learning English as a foreign language and typical remedial measures taken for enhancing their awareness of the grammatical concepts were discussed. Subordination （1） *The animal dug a hole which it escaped during the night. （Correct： The animal dug a hole through which it escaped during the night.） The error may not interfere with the comprehension but shows the learner’s deficiency in using attributive clauses. Obviously the lack of similar structures in NL resulted in the poor maneuver of attributive clauses. A complex sentence containing an attributive clause can be decomposed into two complete sentences. “which” refers to a hole. So the incorrect complex sentence can be divided into two portions. The first part is “The animal dug a hole.” The second part is “it escaped the hole during the night.” which is incorrect. Run-on （2） *Jason always works magic with computers he can’t repair that Mac. （Correct： Jason always works magic with computers， but he can’t repair that Mac.） Apparently the learner combined the two complete ideas into one sentence， making it long and difficult to comprehend. A correct way to fix it is separating one clause from the other with a comma and a conjunction. Fragment （3） *While those employees were working in the US.” （Correct： While those employees were working in the US， they saw a few hot spots in big cities.） This indicates the learner’s IL system was flawed as they hadn’t developed a clear concept of what constitute a complex English sentence. The example does not express a complete idea and the sentence isn’t finished yet. Just like ‘Although he tried hard to find a stapler，” is not a complete complex sentence with a dependent clause only. Dangling Modifier （4） *Not having reviewed the safety procedure， the factory worker’s left arm was severely hurt. （Correct： Not having reviewed the safety procedure， the factory worker got his left arm severely hurt.） The dangling modifier “Not having reviewed the safety procedure” does not modify any sentence element clearly stated. Who was the one that hadn’t reviewed the procedure？ The dangling modifier interferes with comprehending the meaning. It is obvious that when producing a dangling modifier， the learner is influenced by NL as a native speaker would read the factory worker’s left arm hadn’t reviewed the safety procedure， and that makes no sense. Plurality （5） *Business leaders from around the world returned to their home country. （Correct： Business leaders from around the world returned to their home countries）. This is a typical example of NL interference as a noun in Chinese has no plural form. Business leaders could have returned to their home country provided they all had come from one country. However， the leaders came from around the world. Capitalization （6） Erica’s field of study was Management and she took the international trade Course. （Correct： Erica’s field of study was management and she took the International Trade course.） Chinese speakers use characters instead of letters so capitalization proved to be hard for them. The learner had no way of making any positive transfer. Spelling.It’s clear that the learner formulated a skewed concept of conjunctions in IL and the TL rules were oversimplified to communicate ideas in writing. Upon the completion of the second writing assignments， another analysis of the errors on the participants’ second writing samples was performed indicating a total number of 187 grammar error counts with 82 counts of morphological errors and 105 counts of syntactic errors. On average， a participant committed 4 errors with the highest record of 6 error counts for one sample and the lowest of 2 error counts. That shows the instructional sessions on TL grammar greatly reduced the number of errors by the participants. Conclusion
The data analysis results show that learners are prone to commit more syntactic errors than morphological errors as the participants’ syntactic errors consistently outnumbered their morphological errors across the two writing tasks. However， remedial instruction in TL grammar reduced the ratio of the total number of syntactic errors to the total number of morphological errors in the second writing samples as it dropped from 1.59 to 1.28. Further research may be conducted to investigate the causes for the drop. The grammatical errors can interfere with the intended meaning of the writing discourses. However， they also serve as a passageway to the learners’ IL. By examining the effect of NL interference， negative transfer， simplification of TL rules， and overgeneralization of TL rules on the learners’ output， a researcher/course program designer may detect their deficiencies in TL grammar and develop remedial procedures for predicting and correcting the errors. Many of the learners’ errors have their origins in skewed concepts of TL grammar due to the lack of corresponding concepts in NL or the negative transfer of NL. The researcher-designed instruction that utilizes TL directly to formulate proper concepts proved to be immune to NL transfer. Direct application of TL to concept formation rid learners of referring to a comparable NL concept in case it’s unavailable. The remedial instruction apparently exerted a very positive impact on correcting the errors， reducing the number to a small size. The majority of the errors were successfully remediated after the instructional sessions were completed. This leads to the conclusion that most errors in IL are not subject to fossilization but liable to be permanently remediated as long as the learners are adequately exposed to remedial instruction with ample opportunities for output.
REFERENCES
Chaudron， C. （1988）. Second Language Classrooms， Cambridge， Cambridge
University Press.
Crain， Stephen. （1991）. Language acquisition in the absence of experience， Behavioural and Brain Sciences 4， 565-643.
Han， Zhaohong. （2005）. Fossilization in Adult Second Language Acquisition. Toronto： Multilingual Matters.
Hankamer， J. （1979）. Deletion in coordinate structures. New York： Garland.
Lardiere， D. （1998）. Case and tense in the fossilized steady state. Second Language Research， 14， 3-17.
Lenneberg， E.H. （1976）. Biological Foundations of Language. New York： Wiley.
Omaggio， Alice C. （1986）. Teaching Language in Context： Proficiency-Oriented Instruction. Boston： Heinle & Heinle，
Selinker， Larry. （1977）. “Interlanguage.” In Jack C. Richards （Ed.） Error Analysis： Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition. London： Longman.
*本文系2013年湖南省教研教改项目 （编号153）“交互理论指导下的大学英语课堂教学革新”阶段性成果