Error Analysis Of Punctuation In Writing

Error Analysis has developed as a branch of applied linguistics since the 1960s, and rapidly sprung up, which has set out to reflect some universal learning strategies rather than the influence of mother tongue only in language learning.Many researches have already been done on the errors in EFL learners' writing. Corder (1981) believes that the errors of various levels and types manifest themselves in the writing practice of Chinese learners. Some researches focus on one sort of errors and try to seek the causes of it. Most of the studies especially those done by Chinese teachers of English concern the common errors in Chinese EFL learners' writing. The aim of identifying and analyzing these errors is to make learners avoid making them, since only when we know why errors have been produced can we set about correcting them in a systematic way.In spite of the productive achievements in the EA of writing, there are still some limitations: firstly, much attention has been paid to the literal errors rather than the graphic problems like punctuation marks; secondly, few conclusions are drawn with precise statistical data to demonstrate the hypotheses; thirdly, the computer-assisted EA has not been widely employed for its reliability and validity.