Fossilization of Errors

Fossilization of errors occurs when learning a L2
Chen Chiung Hao
Taipei Municipal University of Education

                        Abstract
The current research aims to investigate the fossilization of errors made by the students in Taiwan. I choose my tutoring students as my object to compile the errors, from which I analyze what type of errors they frequently make and what causes lead to their fossilization of errors in the SL2. In addition, I divide my tutoring students into two age groups, which serves as a comparison to gauge which age group is prone to the fossilization of errors. I focus the errors on the use of the part of speech, from which I can swiftly understand the regulations. The results indicate some predicaments the students in Taiwan usually meet, such as 1) the pressure of study on students ( affective factors), 2)the unfamiliarity with the grammar rules (input), overgeneralization of the rules( Intra-lingual factors), the influence of L1 on L2 (Interference/ Inter-lingual factors), the formulaic linguistic materials, and how much the students is exposed to the environment and culture of the target language. All of the above-mentioned may bring about the fossilization of errors.
Key words: fossilization, language acquisition, interlanguage, syntactic category

Introduction

This research paper is going to deal with the recently emerging linguistic term- fossilization, for fossilization has sparked the interest among numerous research linguists and engendered various opinions and comments. (Selinker, 1972; H. Douglas Brown, & Susan Gonzo, 1995; Muriel Saville-Troike, 2006, Diane Larsen-Freeman, & Michael H. Long, 1991) Then, what does the term mean? Actually, it is one of the traits of interlanguage and may act as a situation in a period when learning occurred. To be specific, the term, which is, to certain degree, a misnomer, is applied to linguistics to delve into the second acquisition of a foreign learner. This interesting...