Investigation L1Transfer through Error Analysis Procedure.

Abstract

Producing error-free paragraphs and essays is the ultimate aim of learners and teachers. However, a lot of first year learners of English language at the English section of Ibn Khaldoun University in Tiaret are incapable to write effectively because they commit a number of grammatical errors in their written works. It is believed that these errors are happened as a result of the interference of their mother tongue (Arabic). Hence, the main aim of the current research work is to investigate if EFL learners’ grammatical errors in their writing are due to their first language transfer (Arabic) or not, through error analysis procedure. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire is administrated to twenty (20) teachers (most of them are teachers of grammar and written expression) at the English section in Tiaret University to ask them about the main causes behind the problem and the different types of grammatical errors committed by first year EFL learners. Twenty (20) paragraphs written by first year learners were collected and analyzed to determine the main common error types. The data analysis of both teachers’ questionnaire and students’ paragraphs revealed that students commit different types of errors which are mainly due to their mother tongue interference (inter-language). The results confirmed that EFL learners write less effectively with a lot of grammatical errors because of the influence of their first language negative transfer.