Publication details
Errors in the Written Production of L1 Slovak Learners of Chinese in the Chinese Learner Corpus of Slovak Students
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| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | The present study investigates the error patterns in the written production of L1 Slovak learners of Chinese, using data drawn from the Chinese Learner Corpus of Slovak Students—a specialized small-scale learner corpus used for the research embedded in the field of interlanguage and processes linked to the Chinese language acquisition. The research focuses on two distinct proficiency groups, beginners and advanced learners, with the primary objective of examining how the nature and distribution of errors evolve as learners’ command of Chinese improves. The growing importance of textual corpora and their use in linguistic research also plays a crucial role in the study of second language acquisition, as learner corpora have paved the way for interlanguage research. Building on the theoretical framework of interlanguage development and error analysis (Aston, 1995), the study employs a computer-assisted approach to identify, classify, and quantify the major types of errors occurring in learners’ texts. The analysis revealed that the progression from beginner to advanced proficiency is accompanied by a noticeable shift in the distribution of error categories. The most significant reduction of errors was observed in the wrong word order category and errors associated with grammatical functions also showed a marked decrease, what might indicate learner`s increased morphological and syntactic awareness in the process of acquiring Chinese. In contrast, errors at the lexical level, such as inappropriate word selection or misuse of vocabulary, remained relatively stable across proficiency levels, suggesting persistent difficulties in this area. The findings have both theoretical and pedagogical implications (McEnery & Xiao, 2011; Wang 2000). From a theoretical perspective, they contribute to the understanding of how L1-specific factors, in this case the structural influence of Slovak, shape the interlanguage of Chinese language learners. From a pedagogical standpoint, the results provide an empirical basis for refining teaching methodologies in Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) for L1 Slovak learners. |