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• Why did researchers start studying EA?
As you have noticed, CAH cannot completely explain the process of second-language learning, specially the students’ errors. It was why the researchers started to look for a new approach. CA is under the influence of behaviorism and in CA, transfer is considered as the most important and even the only reason for language learning difficulties.
This new approach is called Error Analysis and it was a reaction to CA and its shortcomings.

• What is the EA’s point of view toward errors?
In this approach errors is seen as a necessary part of language learning. Actually learning cannot happen without making errors. They believe if we study the errors children make while learning L1; it can give us insights into second language learning difficulties.
On the other hand, they do not see the errors as sin. The errors are considered as a sign of learning. They are evidence of the cognitive process of language learning.
EA sees errors as a necessary part of language learning and a sign of the language learning process.

• According to EA, how can learners benefit from their own errors?

The language learner uses his errors to get feedback from the environment. These feedbacks can help him to test and modify his hypothesis about the language.

• Why do some researchers claim that EA serves pedagogical aims better than CA does?

1.EA does not limit the cause of errors just to transfer, what CA does.
EA consider other reasons as well, some of reasons it introduces have nothing to do with L1.
2. It’s not dependent on hypothetical problems. It talks about actual problems and it makes it more efficient and economical than CA.
3. Unlike CA, it’s not confronted with the complex theoretical problems.

• What are three fundamental assumption of EA?
EA has three fundamental assumptions:
1. We cannot learn any language(L1 or L2) without making errors.
2. Errors are important in different ways.
3. Transfer is not the only cause of errors. They happen because of different reasons.

• What are productive errors? How can we study them.
Productive errors are those happening while student is trying to say something. These group of errors are easy to recognize, just by listening to the students utterances.

• What are receptive errors?
Receptive errors are those happening because the students cannot understand the speakers intentions. They are difficult to study because we cannot be sure of what others are understanding.
• How can we study receptive errors?
• For studying this kind of errors we should consider their reaction to requests, orders, complements, etc. Studying their reaction we can decide if they have get the right idea about what they have heard.

• What is interlanguage?
At any stage of language learning, the learners have a system in their mind about the structure of that language. This is called interlanguage. This is a set of rules that governs the language, some of them are those that students have already mastered some are those students have not learned yet so they borrow them from their mother tongue(they can be similar in L2 or not). Whenever the students do not know the right form, they use their mother tongue rule instead.

• What are errors?
Errors are rule-governed and systematic. They happen because the language learners’ knowledge of the language rules is not complete. The errors reveals the student’s underlying knowledge of the language(transitional competence). At any stage of language learning, the learners have a system in their mind about the structure of that language. This is called interlanguage. This is a set of rules that governs the language, some of them are those that students have already mastered some are those students have not learned yet so they borrow them from their mother tongue(they can be similar in L2 or not). Whenever the students do not know the right form, they use their mother tongue rule instead. It is why the errors are systematic. They also have repetitive nature because they are made by rules. The teachers and researcher can recognize them using this fact. Students are unconscious of them.

• What are mistakes?
Mistakes are random. They are unrelated to any system. They can occur in both language learners’ and native speakers’ utterances.
They can be caused by non-linguistic causes such as fatigue, strong emotions, memory limitations, lack of concentration, etc.
Some of the most familiar examples of mistakes are slips of tongue, slips of pen and slips of ear.