ELT Journal Volume 59/2 April 2005 © Oxford University Press
Authentic language or language errors? Lessons from a learner corpus
Melinda Tan is Senior Lecturer in EFL at the University of Central Lancashire. Previously, she lectured on the MA in ELT and MA in ELL (English Language and Literatures) programmes at Assumption University, Bangkok. Her research interests lie in the areas of corpus linguistics, cognitive semantics, discourse analysis, and language teaching. Email: mtan{at}uclan.ac.uk
In the area of language teaching, a large number of learner corpora investigations have tended to rely on empirical data to identify common types of errors which illustrate inauthentic usages in a target language. One consequence of this kind of investigations is that such studies rarely, if ever, consider the inextricable link between language and culture, and the growing role of English as a lingua franca. Using examples of Thai English, this article calls for a re-examination of the common notion of ‘authentic’ language use. It suggests that much of learner English use is actually ‘authentic’ as a result of the cultural influences of the local context. A consideration of the practices and beliefs of the local culture could provide a better understanding of why learners use a foreign language in the way they do; a comprehension that cannot be gained from SLA theory and empirical data alone.
Revised March 2004.