Some people have considered the language of the second language learner as other than a defective ,distorted or incorrect form of the language they are learning . This has triggered off a number of research aimed at investigating objectively the whole phenomenon of second language use. To understand and appreciate the second language acquisition is to treat the learner language as a phenomenon to be studied in its own right.
It is in fact that learners learn a second language besides their mother tongue usually in the classroom. At every stage of the acquisition process, every language learner has a language his/her language behavior is consistent in certain respects at a given point in his /her linguistic development but inconsistent in others. The fact that his/her language is improvised or deficient as a means of communication is obvious , the errors referring to the learner’s language intuitions about grammatically possessed by speaker of that language. The learner language, while having certain characteristics of the target language, is manifestly different. It is variable and dynamic , changing all the time, because the learner’s linguistic rules are constantly undergoing revision. The learner language is also called interlanguage, a dialect the learner produces when attempting at communication. While this language is similar to other learner languages, It is different from the language of the native speaker, hence the term interlanguage. In the context of the language teaching discourse, errors characterize the differences between the learner language and the target language as spoken by native speakers.
Insights drawn from the interlanguage and error analysis theories have considerable impact on the communicative teaching strategy’s fundamental principles is that it ‘forbids’ direct correction of speech errors and makes the language teacher ‘accept’ structurally erroneous utterances. This principle is based on the assumption that the learner’s errors, just as the first language acquisition, are caused the processes of hypothesis testing ; these errors are transitional because they tend to disappear as the learner proceeds along the learning continuum, getting more language input and constantly revising and correcting erroneous hypotheses.
Feedback related to the learner’s language is the other essential function of language teaching within the framework of the communicative strategy . This feedback is provided primarily by the teacher, but it may also be supplied by the learner’s classmates . It relates only to the contents of the messages that the learner is transmitting and not to their grammatical form . Thus ability to communicate becomes the main criterion of success and the learner gets positive feedback whenever his/ her interlocutor can understand his/her intended message in spite of the fact that the grammar form of the message may be highly incorrect. As a consequence the feedback never explicitly refers to the structural quality (grammaticality) of the learner language .Directing the learner’s attention to the grammatical correctness of his /her language means diverting it from what ought to be his/her main concern, which is the expression and negotiation of meaning.
Fanslow distinguishes two different goals in the use of error treatment forms: (a) immediate correction of an error and (b) Ultimate teaching and learning of the correct form. He stresses that errors are normal part of language learning and are to be corrected only when they impair communication.
By: Geraldine C.. Flores I Teacher III I Pagalanggang National High School I Dinalupihan, Bataan
