An Analysis Of Lexical Errors In Vocational And Technical College Students’ Writings And Its Implications For Vocabulary Teaching And Learning

Vocational and Technical College English teaching emphasizes the acquisition of basic knowledge and skills for the development of students" abilities to use the language in communication. Students’writing ability is a test tool whether they have a good mastery of the words, phrases and structures as required. It is also an indicator of the effectiveness of teaching and learning in that it can test whether students can correctly use the words, phrases and structures to express clearly. Because of the importance of learning words and using them in writing, Basic Requirements for English Teaching in Vocational and Technical Colleges has put forward specific requirements for students’ mastery of words and writing ability. It respectively stipulates that students should be able to "spell, write correctly and translate" a definite number of commonly used words and phrases, and "to use these words, phrases and structures to write with correct grammar, punctuation and complete sentence structure, making sentences that can clearly express their thoughts and feelings and are logical in sequence...". But the current situation of vocational and technical college teaching makes this goal of fully developing students’ability to use English somewhat difficult to achieve. On the one hand, because of enlarged enrollment, the students of vocational and technical colleges are generally poor in English. On the other hand, teachers and students have misconceptions about teaching and learning in the background of examination-oriented education system. Many of them are interested in seeking quick success and instant benefits and few are willing to calm down to do some solid work.But writing is an ability that cannot be developed in one day. It requires long time accumulation of knowledge and the patience to apply knowledge into practice. So it is no wonder that vocational and technical college students are found to be poor in writing because of lack of knowledge they can use and opportunities they can practice. Their writing does not come up to the standard stipulated in the Basic Requirement. In their writing, there are numerous errors which make it difficult for them to clearly express themselves or convey key points of information,among which lexical errors account for a great proportion.Error is not something to be afraid of. If it is viewed negatively, it shows the incomplete mastery of language elements, and students and teachers are trying hard to avoid errors. But its positive aspect is that it is a reflection of students’ learning process which helps researchers evaluate students’progress and difficulties. The inevitability and constructive role of errors are two concepts of Error Analysis, which provides teachers a new perspective on students’errors.This paper aims to generalize some qualities common to lexical errors in vocational and technical college students’writing for the purpose of exploring the causes of such errors and providing corresponding suggestions for teaching and learning to avoid or reduce the influence of the errors. The theoretical basis for this paper is theories of Error Analysis, first put forward by Corder. The writer of this paper follows Corder’s five steps of error analysis and conducts a survey by collecting students’writing and analyzing the errors with an aim to solve the following problems that often puzzle vocational and technical college English teachers:(1) What types of lexical errors are most common in students’writing?(2) What might be the causes of such errors?(3) What implications does this lexical error analysis provide for teaching and learning?(4) What learning strategies can the teacher recommend to students to deal with these errors?The research findings reveal that students’lexical difficulties mainly lie in spelling, distinguishing parts of speech, using collocation and choosing the right words in expression. The causes of lexical errors can be chiefly summarized as follows:mother tongue influence on confusion of parts of speech, inadequate and incorrect understanding of basic usages of words, and lack of practice. Teacher’s way of guidance and students’learning strategies also play a part.Finally, accordingly, this thesis proposes some revision suggestions and coping tactics in this regard, and presents some remedial teaching and learning strategies on English vocabulary:teachers’ and students’misconceptions about vocabulary learning must be corrected; attention should be directed to laying a solid foundation by emphasizing the learning of commonly used words and practice should be further stressed; teachers should create favorable atmosphere for learning and organize various learning activities to arouse students’ interests in learning and fully develop students’ abilities in using English.