This study set out to analyze the types of grammatical errors in writing texts by Korean learners according to their characteristics. Learners naturally acquire their mother tongues, but there are various variables working in complex ways in the acqui...
This study set out to analyze the types of grammatical errors in writing texts by Korean learners according to their characteristics. Learners naturally acquire their mother tongues, but there are various variables working in complex ways in the acquisition process of a second language, which is why it is difficult to conclude that a single variable produced certain effects. Trying to understand the diverse situations of Korean learners, the present study thus focused on their utilization of their mother tongues by the nationality, gender, and level and examined the effects of each variable on their error rates and the interactive effects among the variables. The study set the followings tasks to solve:
First, does the number of writing errors of Korean learners have something to do with the total number of phrases?
Second, are there differences in the writing error rates of Korean learners by the nationality, gender, and level?
Third, do the mother tongues of learners used by Korean teachers have effects on the writing error rates of learners?
The investigator gathered writing texts by 214 learners that were learning Korean, revised and supplemented the types of errors in learners' writing materials by consulting the error classification systems in previous studies, and built a final analysis framework. By applying the criteria of the analysis framework, the investigator then encoded the errors in the writing texts of learners by the type in the unit of phrase with the qualitative software NVivo 10. Correlations were analyzed between the number of error phrases analyzed in the texts and the total number of phrases to solve the first research question. Variance analysis was conducted by the nationality, gender, and level according to the types of error to solve the second research question. Another round of variance analysis was also conducted by the utilization of mother tongue, gender, and level according to the types of error to solve the third research question. Individual interviews were done to specifically figure out the effects of lessons in which the teachers used the mother tongues of students. The main findings were summarized as follows:
First, there were positive correlations between the number of phrases with a writing error by Korean learners and the total number of phrases. As the phrases of learners became longer, the frequency of their error types increased, as well, including vocabulary, grammar, spelling, substitution, omission, and addition.
Secondly, the nationality, gender, and level of learners had effects on their writing error rates and had interactive effects with them. The study analyzed whether there would be differences in overall error rates according to the nationality, gender, and level and found significant differences. Overall error rates had interactive effects with the nationality and level. That is, Chinese students recorded a lower error rate than Mongolian students at the elementary level and a higher overall error rate than them at the intermediate level. The vocabulary error rates showed statistically significant differences according to the level, and so did the error rates of vocabulary addition and omission. The grammar error rates showed statistically significant differences according to the level, and the interactive effects were significant according to the nationality and level. That is, Mongolian students recorded a higher grammar error rate than Chinese students at the elementary level, whereas Chinese students recorded a higher grammar error rate than Mongolian students at the intermediate level. There were also statistically significant differences in their grammar substitution, grammar omission, and grammar addition error rates. There were, however, significant interactive effects only in grammar substitution error rates according to the nationality and gender. That is, Chinese male students recorded a lower grammar substitution error rate than their Mongolian counterparts, whereas Mongolian female students recorded a lower grammar substitution rate than their Chinese counterparts. The spelling error rates were significant according to the nationality and level, and there were significant interactive effects on the spelling error rates according to the nationality and level. That is, Chinese students recorded a lower spelling error rate than Mongolian students at the elementary level and a higher spelling error rate than them at the intermediate level. The findings raise a need for teachers to prepare the content and methods of curriculums and grammar education by taking the characteristics of Korean learners into consideration.
Finally, when teachers utilized the mother tongues of learners, it had positive effects on their achievements in Korean study. The study analyzed whether there would be differences in overall error rates according to teachers' utilization of mother tongues of learners and found that the group of mother tongue utilization recorded a low overall error rate with statistically significant differences according to gender and level. The grammar error rates were lower in the group where the teacher utilized the mother tongues of students than in the group where the teacher did not. They were higher at the elementary level than the intermediate level. The grammar substitution and omission error rates were higher at the elementary level than the intermediate level with significant differences between them. The spelling error rates were higher at the elementary level than the intermediate level with significant differences between them. The error rates by the types according to the level of students, one of the learner characteristics, tended to drop according to the levels. The investigator had individual interviews about teachers' utilization of mother tongues of students and found that it was especially effective for vocabulary and grammar education, motivated the students to take active part in lessons, and made a contribution to a comfortable lesson atmosphere. The findings suggest that teachers can maximize the effects of Korean learning by making proper use of mother tongues of learners.
The present study analyzed the diverse types of error according to the characteristics of learners and thus can help teachers figure out the characteristics of their students and give them detailed explanations and presentations about the effective and systematic content and methods of grammar education, thus holding its significance.
key word: error, writing, grammatical error, error type, error analysis, Korean as a second language, effect of L1, teaching and learning
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