鳥取環境大学紀要
第 3 号（2005.2）pp.119 −125

What do Mistakes Tell?
- An Analysis of the Mistakes in Students,

Journals and Its Implication toClassroom Instruction

Xia Xuqin

鳥取環境大学では、IE (Intensive English) の一部として、学生は週二枚程度、英語でのジャーナ
ルを書くことが要求されています。本論文は鳥取環境大学の学生を対象にし、彼らが英語の文書を書くときに、多く見られる誤った表現を列挙し、そして誤り、或は不適切な表現の理由を分析し、正しい書き方、
表現方法と文章の構成についての指導法を示したものです。最後に、和製英語に対する正しい英語表現などを表で示しました。本論文で纏めた誤った表現は、殆ど身の回りを語るナレーションのジャーナルを対象にしています。
ジャーナル、書く、間違い、分析、校正

Abstract ： As an integral part of IE (Intensive English), all students are required to write English journals at an
average two- piece-per-week rate in Tottori University of Environment Studies (TUES). This paper is a tentative
attempt to categorize the kinds of mistakes and inappropriateness found in the journals that I have read in the last two
and half years. Beginning with a definition of mistakes, this paper then unfolds by elaborating the possible reasons,that lie underneath by referring to a good many literature work. Following this, students mistakes are listed and theirreasons are explored. Finally, its implication to classroom instruction is arrived at with a tentative categorization andcorrection of mistakes expressed in a chart. This paper is written using the English journals written by Japanese
students in TUES, and most of the journals are found to be narration. Due to this fact, the mistakes and inappropriate
expressions summarized here are confined to the genre of narration mostly.
Keywords journal, writing, mistakes, analysis, correction

1. Introduction

2. Definition

The mention of mistakes usually has a bad ring. Students hate

Before any further elaboration of mistakes takes place, thethem when their work is crawling with red marks; the teachers

definition of journals needs to be identified in the first place.

also hate them because they show that the students are not able

Todd, (2001) used journals to communicate with the learners

to perform well. And the worst, it usually takes the teacher too

about any questions and uncertainties concerning language

long to cross out the mistakes and then to correct them!

learning. However, the journals applied in this paper refer to the

However, that is not just what mistakes are worth. They mean

two-piece-in-a-week written work of the students about theirmore than some annoying functional failures. Mistakes can welldaily life, friends, families, hobbies and the impressions aboutlead to a better command of the language learnt. And this paper

things that have happened. It is pretty much like a diary. And

is a tentative attempt to show how mistakes can be valuable in,ameliorating students writing ability by offering valuable

the main pedagogical expectation is that the students canimplication to classroom instruction.

what they want to say.

produce comprehensible written work, thus making sense of− 119 −

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Yesterday, I seed my friend at the station.

A. Mistakes as interlanguage

This is an often-occurring approximation-system mistake. The
Although mistakes often irritate language teachers and may

student seemed to have the English grammar knowledge of pasteven deprive students of their confidence in language learning,tense and he put -d after the right verb. In this sense, the student

they are not just rubbish. Selinker (1972,1992) has viewed

was not just a passive learner, but amistakes in a whole new light. Interlanguage is a term Selinker,
applied to redefine the mistakes in the students work, both incould manipulate the grammar rules and try to produce

written and spoken form. By this, he meant that the mistakes,
found in the students work can be viewed as developmental

exceptions to the formation of verbs in terms of past tense,competent

one wholinguistic items according to it. The thing is there arewhich the student has failed to master.

products, something that reveals to which stage the learning has
proceeded. In view of this, mistakes may not be all bad; on thec) Accidents

contrary, they could provide valuable perspectives on learning
In contrast to the mistakes that are the results of lack of relative

process.

linguistic knowledge or the misperceptions of the knowledge,
another kind is the result of lack of processing ability , which

B. The origin of the mistakes

occurs due to inability to process under difficult sets of
A good variety of reasons could attribute to the generation of
mistakes. This paper will try to look at the origins from threeoperating conditions (Johnson, 1988). For example, the,mistakes can be a slip of the pen when the students writing can
not catch up with his thinking. For instance,

perspectives.

boring .

I like play

See you aging (see you again),etc. We could only

wish the intelligence level of the spelling-check function coulda) L1 interference

be upgraded.
,

Viewing from the context of the students journals, L1
inferences could be the first to blame. L1 interference, also

3. Categorizing the mistakes

negative transfer (Cook, 1989) refers to the

As discussed in section 2, mistakes could provide insightful

learners' indiscriminate transfer of linguistic rules from theirperspectives on the learning process of our student writers.
,
Therefore, by analyzing and categorizing the writers mistakes,

known asnative language to the target language. That is to say, Japanesethat applies to Japanese. This usually takes the form of direct

we would be in a better position to understand the nature of the,mistakes and the way they fit into individual writer s worktranslation. A good example can be:(Bartholomae, in Corbett, etc, 2000,) and we would be able tolearners tend to construct their English writing using grammar

know where to begin with our instruction on what the writers

I think about public security in Japan..

て検討したいと思います。Nonetheless, the English goes:need to improve. It makes no sense, for example, to impose a,lesson on conditional clause if the writers problems are

I would like to comment on public security in Japan.

understood as in the construction of attributive clause. This

By that, the student writer intends to mean: 日本の治安につい

Or, I want to talk about public security in Japan.

paper will only look at the mistakes as a result of L1,
interference and learners approximation system that marks the,b) Learners approximation system about the language

stages on their route to mastery.

According to Nemser (in Corbett, 2000), the target language

A. Syntactic mistakesthat student writers produce when struggling

to dealwiththe varied demands of the writing task is an approximation to
the supposeda) After Golden Week, it returns from Osaka to Tottori.

standard target language. It is meant that all

language learners are trying to reach the most correct

This is one of the often-found mistakes: the misuse of subject

expression and their work could be viewed

or mere lack of subject. The use of it is quite confusing.

of theperfection.

as approximation

Supposedly, it comes under the direct influence of the Japanese− 120 −

Xia Xuqin What do Mistakes Tell?

language, where subject --- in this case, I--- is often omitted. As,
Students journal writing is often carried away with theEnglish usually asks for a subject to begin with, our student

instantaneous thoughts of the writer so that the whole writing

writer then found his way out by using it . A similar example

does not often follow the same focus as the title suggests. Foris:example, in a piece of writing titled My Room, the student
writer began rightly by talking about the furniture in his room.

...if it will continue global warming...

However, he suddenly switched into introducing the fitness
equipments lying in one corner. Even when he ended hisb) I will talk about my best like three foods.

writing, he still expressed more appreciation in the varieties ofHere we can see a lack of understanding between the use ofdifferent functions of the fitness equipments than in his room.

adjective and attributive clause. The sentence is corrected whenreplaced with hree of my favorite food . This type of mistakec) Insufficient supporting ideas

occurs at a very high rate and it can be generalized over the
majority of my students in TUES. And this is also an example

In a piece of writing titled Cat, the student writer could notof L1 interference.

make the word count as required. A close examination of her
work may help us to realize that, although she had many ideas
about cats, such as how cute her cat is, and why the cat couldc) May Syndrome is very tired.

keep itself unharmed when jumping from a high place, theHere, the mistake lies in the disagreement between the subject

writer supplied no further demonstration or explanation toand the predicative. The correct version goes: When you haveelaborate her thesis. As one more example goes:

May Syndrome, you often feel very tired. In Japanese, you canHiroshima dialect is very very good language. But it ismake yourself understood by saying 五月病は疲れることでdirty language.

す。 However, it does not go this way in English. Similar

This one sounds ridiculously conflicting in itself. The reason is

examples are:that the student writer failed to supply enough supporting× when I was primary school, I liked beans.

statements to show how very good Hiroshima dialect was× Sushi is not like.

before he rushed over to say how it can be dirty as well. (Or,,× Today is yamabu s party.

should it be described as dirty? It is another question of
inappropriate choice of vocabulary.)d) I like playing sports, but I watch sports too.
C. Inappropriate use of vocabulary
The use of conjunction but is better to be replaced by and.
Other confusing conjunctions may be: so that, because of, so asa) I was so ashamed when someone saw me fell into the rice

to, as a result, etc. For example:

field with dog.

× I turn on the TV so that I am lonely.
× I turn on the TV in order to I want more

Here, the choice of ashamed may well be replaced withinformation.

embarrassed, for ashamed means the feeling of guilt if one
does something that is morally wrong while embarrassed

B. Organizational mistakes

describes that someone is upset because they did something thatmakes them seem stupid. Although both could be interpreted ina) No paragraph division1)

Japanese as 恥ずかしい, they surely have different usage in
different contexts. Using only a Japanese-English dictionary

The whole piece of writing is one big block, which makes it

can sometimes be misleading and the students need to bedifficult for the readers to read effectively, such as to grasp thereminded of this trap.

general ideas or to locate specific information.
The above is just one of the numerous mistakes of this type.
b) Lack of a controlling idea

Another one is:− 121 −

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× The mileage meter teach me how far the car has run.

culturally inappropriate, but can also cause fatal◎ The mileage meter tells me how far the car has run.

misunderstanding.

If the above examples have shown the indiscrimination among

Example 4synonyms, the following one, then, tries to point out the... we went to the Japanese pub after class. We drank alcohol.

improper choice of vocabulary in terms of levels of formality.
Again, there were no grammatical mistakes involved, yet it
does not sound natural. It can be seen as a result of L1b) Strawberry was possessed by grandma of my boyfriend.

interference, where the Japanese equivalent goes: お酒を飲み,

A better version may be: My boyfriend s grandma had someました。However, to make it sound natural in English, it may

strawberry.

as well be changed into: ...we had a few (alcoholic) drinks.

,
Or, It was my boyfriend s grandma who owned the strawberry.
A similar example goes (example 5):
Today, I think about good points about...

D. Cultural misinterpretationor,Today, good points are felt.

There are some other kinds of expressions that are notgrammatically wrong, but they certainly fail to communicate

In Japanese writing, when you begin to argue for something,what the writer has on his / her mind.

you would write,

今日は、〜〜に付いて良いところを考えてみたいと思います。

Example 1,,
I often call a teacher s name.

However, the natural English goes:
I would like to consider about plus points.

I believe the writer intended to express the closeness in theOr, First of all, some plus points are to be discussed.

relationship between him and the English teacher, but heincidentally said exactly the opposite --- I often speak ill of my

Expressing the same idea in Japanese and English has different

teacher.

ways of composing, although, grammar does not seem to get in
the way in the above example sentences. The student writer ofexample 4 could make him/herself understood under the right

Example 2.... I pushed the wrong tooth and was bitten by thecontext (not drinking the chemical substance for industrial use!)

alligator! Hideki was so excited and he shouted: You are

and the writer of example 5 may be able to proceed with his /the loser!

her presentation in an international conferences; however, theirEnglish does not conform to the externally imposed norms

Instead of writing

You lost , the student writer has madeabout language behavior, norms which, in pure survival terms,

himself extremely offensive in English.

are frills (Johnson, 1988:94).

Example 3

4. How to correct the mistakes
How do we deal with mistakes when they pop into our eyes? I... my mother is old.
To call somebody old is regarded as rude in English, although,sometimes could not refrain from correcting every mistake,,leaving conspicuous red marks on students journals. Usually,in Japanese it may not be so. Supposing when this is read by an

one piece of journal was then crawling with red corrections.

English speaker, the writer could well be interpreted as having

However, I wondered if the students would ever read my

dissatisfaction towards his mother, which may not be what thecorrections, or if they just simply threw them away without

writer intended.

giving them a second look, feeling distressed all the same.
Too much red just means bad and that is the end of it.

Examples like this could be further extended. They are not only

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Xia Xuqin What do Mistakes Tell?

(Pfefferle, 1999) It seems that too many red marks may, morethesis statement could be further introduced.

often than not, scare away the students and even deprive themof their precious motivation towards writing. AnotherFor some rhetorical patterns, such as listing, compare andundesirable by-product is that practitioner teachers could havecontrast, exemplification, etc, I would weave those into themuch of their time taken away, doing something that may not

regular class discussion. For example, in the CAF 2)

contribute to the linguistic development of the students while

would provide a listing pattern and ask the students to put in theexhausting themselves (Chimonnbo, 1986).

factors they have considered when buying a car. When his/herclass, I

turn comes, each student is supposed to fit the factors s/he finds,

into the organizational pattern and read out aloud. Two or threeawareness to mistakes without undermining their motivation?

rounds in one class can hopefully leave some impression on

What I am doing is taking notes of the typical mistakes found intheir mind. After the classroom discussion, every student ismost of the journals and discussing them in the following class.

asked to write a journal on that topic so as to recycle theUsually, I would put two sentences on the board and ask

rhetoric patterns in the form of writing.

So what is, then, a more efficient way to draw learners

students to find any mistakes. They either work in pairs or on
their own. I would usually provide some hints for them to start

An example would be:with. They could also refer to the dictionary, looking for similarFirst of all, I would like to consider about price.

example sentences. With the help of the dictionary, the students

Secondly, design is important to us.

often click easily. After identifying the mistakes as a group,

Next, the parking charge is another factor to take into

every student is asked to go through their own work and try toconsideration.

locate any similar mistakes in their own work.

Still, mileage is another factor to be considered.
Last but not least, we should not forget the insurance
matter.

A. Syntactic mistakes
For this group of mistakes, I would introduce relevant drills for

Other practice of rhetorical patterns can be done in a similar

my students to practice. In the case of attributive clause, I

manner.

often begin by listing some mistaken samples with theircorrected versions underneath. By having shown a couple of

C. Inappropriate use of vocabulary

example corrections, the rules for attributive clause can be
gradually generalized by the students themselves. Following

When writing a journal, my students often refer to their little

that, I would give an explicit explanation concerning the,construction of attributive clause. Finally, it is my students turnJapanese-English (J-E) dictionary. For the same meaning, there

to locate any attributive clause usages in their respective work.

each carrying with it its level of formality and its own context.

Those could be either mistaken or correct usages. For

However, my students may just pick any one word and insert it

reinforcement practice, I often use relevant exercises that can

into their journal context. The inappropriate use of ashamedbe easily found in the market, such as Grammar Gamesand embarrassed is just one example. (See III-C)

could be a good many candidate English words to choose from,(Rinvolucri, 1984).
To solve this problem, I would suggest the use of an EnglishEnglish (E-E) dictionary with example sentences. After

B. Organizational mistakes

checking the J-E dictionary, the students are to bring all
With regard to this, an analysis of organizational factors might

candidate words into an E-E dictionary, trying to locate thebe useful. What I do is to get ready of some example

differences in terms of levels of formality and the different

paragraphs, indicating the organizational factors, such as topic

context to fit the word in. The easiest way is to look for

sentence, supporting sentences, summarizing sentence. The

example sentences that match the students' intended usage.

example paragraphs could then be extended into short-sized
articles, where the concepts of paragraph division as well as

In this regard, modern electronic devices are very good

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partners. Rather than bending your backs carrying big

5. Conclusion

paperback dictionaries, electronic dictionaries are very handy

As the general aim of journal writing is to have the students

and most of them (latest ones) offer automatic cross-references

produce comprehensible written work, the types of mistakes

within several dictionaries installed. Another recommendable,
source is electronic dictionary installed in the students PC,

that relate to the construction of English writing and formation

which can be immediately referred to while the students areexamples are confined to those in the journals of the students inwriting journals on their PC.

TUES, over the time period from 2001 -2003. The varieties ofof sentences have been given top priority in this paper. The

mistakes to have been found in students journals may well
D. Cultural misinterpretation

exceed those mentioned above; however, by clarifying the,above-mentioned ones, it is hoped that the students written

The mistakes that fall under this group may seem idiosyncratic

communicative ability could be ameliorated by a large margin.

in their own ways. Nonetheless, generally viewed, most of them
are the result of direct translation from L1. They may not

Notes

necessarily be grammatically wrong; however, if the students

1)This type of mistake could be attributed to the lack ofare not made to realize the different cultural representations,

proper knowledge about what is English writing, which

they may encounter serious cultural misunderstanding, such as

may not fall into any of the three origins of the mistakes.

example 1, 2 and 3. Accordingly, it is up to the practitioner

2)

CAF is one lesson in the critical thinking and discussion

teacher to collect those mistakes and explain theclass in TUES. C.A.F. stands for consider all factors,

inappropriateness explicitly.

which asksfor the students to consider all possible factors
before theymake any decisions, such as buying a car or

Compared with example 1, 2 and 3, example 4 and 5 may notchoosing a career.

seem as disastrous. But it does not mean that language teachers
should overlook such mistakes, without helping learners toReferences

realize how native speakers would otherwise express the same,idea. Based on correct perception of student writers intended

Chimonnbo, M (1986) Evaluating Compositions with Large
Classes ELT Journal Vol.40, No.1, P20-26

message, language teachers may reformulate the same meaning

Cook. G. (1989) Discourse Oxford: OUP

in a more natural way, modeling how the same idea could be

Corbett, E.P.J, etc. (2000) The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook

expressed in a more native-like manner. Such is called

N.Y., Oxford: OUP

reformulation by Johnson (1988). Compared with mere

Johnson, K, (1988) Mistake correction ELT Journal Vol.42,

correction of grammatical mistakes (reconstruction), Johnson

No.2, P89-95

indicated that reformulation may provide help other thanPfefferle.W.T. (1999) Writing That Matters---- A Rhetoric For

rudimentary factors of language manipulation. If possible,,
language teachers may reformulate the whole piece of students

The New Classroom Prentice Hall, New Jersey

writing, and set the new version in contrast to the original work,

LongmanSelinker, L. (1992) Rediscovering Interlanguage.

London:foregrounding the differences in between.

（2005 年 1 月 26 日受理）

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