INTRODUCTION:  ERROR AND DIFFICULTY

This study is devoted to the question of difficulties, not mistakes or errors.  Difficulties exist for all learners, successful or not, and may persist even after a certain level of proficiency in English is attained. Such difficulties may include producing certain sounds of English, difficulty with spelling, difficulty with the past tense or the conditional and so on.  A parallel may be a continuing difficulty in selecting the correct gender of German or French nouns for English native speakers otherwise fluent in the languages.

Together with such ‘linguistic’ difficulties, our studies have revealed a significant amount of pragmatic, situational diffi­culties which hamper linguistic competence such as  ‘Lack of Opportunities to Practice’ and ‘Fear of Making Mistakes’.   We do not look at these factors ‘peripherally’ as in Higa’s (1966) early examination of the subject, believing that they are rather central factors in the concept of difficulty.

Difficulty might be profitably measured in terms of the amount of effort, above what is considered normal, necessary to arrive at the completion of a given task. A psychological test might be arranged to assess the difficulty of, say, expressing the conditional as opposed to the present indicative.  This might take the form of a measurement of neurological activity or time taken to transform a given stimulus or situation into words.

This approach is open to students of experimental psychology.

The study of errors does of course relate to the whole question of difficulties inasmuch as errors (or deviations, varieties, slips, mistakes) may provide us with the evidence and the result of difficulty.  Corder (1971) suggests that if we label a sentence ‘deviant or erroneous’ we have ‘implied an explanation before we have made a description’.   Difficulty exists before errors are made.  It may express itself as actual error, inexact communication, misunderstanding or reluctance to speak.  Corder  (1974) differentiates between ‘receptive’ and  ‘expres­sive’ errors, between ‘overtly erroneous’ and ‘covertly errone­ous’ utterances.  Indeed, he suggests that all learners’ utter­ances should be considered to be erroneous until proved other­ wise.

The greatest relevance of errors is given by learners who often define ‘difficulties’ as the likelihood of making errors.  Moreover, the likelihood of making errors, which may reduce the marks in the compulsory subject of  English  in  Hong  Kong schools, may become a serious difficulty in other spheres apart from the purely linguistic or educational.  The ‘difficulty’ is strengthened and may assume inhibiting dimensions.

There have been few studies of ‘difficulty’ but many devoted to mistakes and errors. These include a number made in Hong Kong.

Tran-Thi-Chau (1972 and 1975), working outside Hong Kong, questions the efficacy of Error Analysis or Contrastive Analysis in isolation and suggests that SPD (Student Perception of Difficulty) and Error Analysis can ‘supplement each other to provide a more accurate diagnosis of areas of difficulty.’

We will consult a number of studies made in Hong Kong for hints to the peculiar difficulties which arise for Cantonese speakers because of interference from their mother tongue.

Difficulty is often a general and psychological problem and the evidence of its existence is often difficult to find.  To admit to ‘difficulty’, in Chinese culture, may mean to lose face.  Ho (1976) writes: “Face may be lost when conduct or performance falls below the minimum level considered acceptable..”,  that is, for example, when a serious language error is made in class before the speaker’s peers.  Face behaviour, which in turn is a part of Chinese ritual behaviour, is a real force which oper­ates in classrooms, and is hence also a social reality as well as a personal ‘difficulty’ in language learning.  Other factors which hamper communication and/or effective teaching which derive from Chinese cultural behaviour include difficulties with self-disclosure, ritualisation, an insistence on interper­sonal harmony and group solidarity.

Ho also points out (1987) that “ the distinction between linguistic and behavioural definitions of difficulty must be kept in mind in any discussion of difficulty in language learning”. He also suggests that behavioural measures must be regarded as primary: “linguistic measures of difficulty - or, more precisely complexity - pertain only to properties of language. In themselves, they have no psychological reality”.

Linguistics can play an important part in the overall understanding of language learning difficulties and it is an academic nicety to divide difficulty into behavioural and linguistic in this way.  We also do not quite grasp what a ‘psychological reality’ is in connection with difficulty.  Difficulty is a broad term which can incorporate actual lack of data  (grammar) to generate acceptable sentences or a vague unwillingness or numbing insecurity regarding a language struc­ture.   For a problem of such complexity, the disciplines of linguistics, psychology  (and sociology, history and whatever else) may be profitably united.

Ho himself borrows the concept of ‘interlingual distance’ to approach bilingual learning difficulty.  In our view, interlin­gual distance is best defined by the linguist, and not the psychologist, in terms of differing syntactic structures etc.  Equally, the linguist cannot operate alone.  Richards  (1972), for example, constantly speaks of social factors and teaching techniques in his ‘linguistic’ discussion of error analysis.

STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY

The study begins with some general remarks about the concept of difficulty, the scientific measurement of difficulty and the distinction to be made between learning difficulty and learning disability. What little can be said about the general learning difficulty of Chinese people expressed in differing cognitive styles etc. is discussed and their hypothesised specific approach to study  (investigated elsewhere in the thesis) is introduced. There is then some speculation about the differing discourse strategies of Chinese speakers.

This introduction prefigures the focus on general difficulty with English (experienced by native and non-natives) which follows.

First language errors are contrasted with second language errors and the ideas of linguistic acceptability and appropri­ateness are examined. Some attention is given to the idea of the specific difficulty of learning English as opposed to other languages.

Our focus then shifts to the way English presents itself in Hong Kong. We examine the status of the notion of regarding Hong Kong English as a regional variation where apparent  ‘errors’ may be regarded as creative or locally valid language use rather than deviations from the norm. What is perceived as ‘difficulty’ in language learning may be an expression of a new language variety emerging. This sociolinguistic section of the thesis is distinct from the psychological, contrastive linguis­tic and didactic perspectives which are presented in the second part of the thesis. Its presentation in part one of the thesis serves to give the reader unfamiliar with Hong Kong some impor­tant understanding of the situation we are dealing with.  It also gives some rationale for the construction of the first research project.

The study then proceeds by establishing some of the main background parameters of our discussion of English language learning, in particular the idea of “fluency” or general proficiency  (the desired goal of foreign or second language learning) and how this can be achieved. The idea of the many types of  “barrier” to learning is discussed in its many forms and is taken as a way of understanding the formation and potential removal of difficulty. We also present general models of first­ly language learning (Spolsky’s conditions“ for language learning) and secondly of human interaction and individual behaviour (Transactional Analysis). Our own understanding of difficulty is presented by means of a triangle of constraints.  Finally, some attention is given to cultural “assumptions” and how they affect language learning (for example, what we perceive as a difficulty may not be the perceived difficulty of second lan­guage users of English in Hong Kong).

We will then proceed to the first part of the original research made for this study. This was an investigation of grading of English errors and a questionnaire aimed at understanding both teacher and student perceptions of English language learning difficulty. A divergence of opinion between teachers and students regarding difficulties is analysed for its significance. In this connection, Birdsong and Kassen (1988) have raised a fundamental point: “By our reactions to errors, we may be cultivating in students standards for error evaluation similar to our own.  Over time, our students’ reactions to errors may begin to coincide with ours”.

Our intuition, and working hypothesis, was that errors are perpetuated by a mutual exchange of incorrect and inconsistent attitudes on the part of teacher and student which allows students to continue with basic errors well into their university education. This hypothesis is supported by Birdsong and Kassen who found a convergence of attitudes to error among students and teachers with the same native language. Further investigation would reveal whether perception of the broader concept of difficulty is similarly identified by teacher and student.  The effects of a convergence of view, combined with poorly qualified staff, rapid expansion of tertiary institutes and a change in the status of English might well explain, we believed, an actual, or perceived, ‘decline’ in English stand­ards in Hong Kong.

The role of the research project - it must be made clear - was not to systematically amass information in a “disciplined” and narrow sense but to provide input into the general speculative and holistic nature of the thesis as a whole.  The project provided a great number of hints which we pursue in the second part.

The second part of the thesis investigates the three main areas of English language learning difficulty expressed in the first research project.  Firstly, the linguistic problem of interfer­ence of Cantonese in English performance is analyzed.  Secondly, the teaching and learning situation in Hong Kong is reviewed from a socio-educational viewpoint: the sociological situation of students, the function of education in Hong Kong, the constraints inherent in the Hong Kong education system and the resulting perception of difficulty. Thirdly the psychological/didactic aspects of difficulty are investigated through a review of the literature devoted to learning styles and approaches.

The second research project takes the form of close classroom observation of three teachers and tabulation of selected classes.

The research question in this project was: ‘What measures, if any, are taken by the teacher to remove language learning difficulty’. We term these measures ‘interventions’.

We then present our ideas for further research in the form of proposed intervention strategies based on our own model of second and foreign language learning founded in Transactional Analysis and derived from what we have learned in the course of researching and writing this thesis. A short conclusion shows some of the options open to teachers of English in Hong Kong for fighting perceived and actual language learning difficulty.

 OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS

This INTRODUCTION

PART ONE - Background and preparation for research

Research Project I

1.   THE CONCEPT OF DIFFICULTY  - Philosophical, psychological   and general semantic orientation

Measurement of difficulty

Learning difficulty/disability

Chinese cognition and learning style

Chinese communication strategies

2.   DIFFICULTY AND ENGLISH  - General linguistic orientation

“Languages”

Authority and usage

Educational reports

First language errors

Contrasting first and second language errors

Linguistic acceptability

Appropriateness

Relative difficulty of English

A universal hierarchy of difficulty

3.   ENGLISH IN HONG KONG  - Sociolinguistic orientation

Hong Kong English - S.E. Asian and world perspectives

New Englishes

Localized forms of English

Non-native Englishes

Non-native varieties

English as an additional language

Errors as unrecognised features of Hong Kong English

The Hong Kong identity

U-Gay-Wah

Hong Kong English in literature

Conclusion

4.   ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING  - Focus on TEFL and TESL and our approach Fluency Optimum acquisition and environment

Conditions for second language learning (Spolsky)

Constraints in foreign language learning

Transactional Analysis

A TA Education Model

Barriers in foreign/second language learning

Cultural assumptions and foreign/second language learning

5.   RESEARCH PROJECT I - Focus on Hong Kong English Language

Learning Difficulty

Study rationale

Possible use of the data
 Approach

Study design

School A

School B

Tabulation

Results

Comparison of student and teacher perceptions of difficulty

PART TWO - Examination and elucidation of Research Project I findings

Research Project II

6.   THE INTERFERENCE OF CANTONESE IN HONG KONG ENGLISH USAGE

• Contrastive linguistic aspects to perceived English language learning difficulty in Hong Kong

Morphological level

Syntactical level

Lexical level

Phrasal level

Spelling

Redundancy

Beyond error correction and interference analysis

Psychological, didactic and sociological factors in interference

7.   THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE HONG KONG TEACHING/LEARNING

SITUATION

• Sociology, educational function and constraints

The sociological situation of Hong Kong students

The function of education in Hong Kong society

The constraints of the Hong Kong education system

The perception of learning difficulty within the education system

8.   LEARNING STYLES AND APPROACHES IN HONG KONG

·        The perspective of the educational psychologist (literature review)

The culture myth

“Chinese culture”

Literature unrelated to Biggs

Users and sympathisers of the Biggs Study Process Questionnaire

Critical assessment of the Biggs line

9.   RESEARCH PROJECT II - CLASSROOM OBSERVATION

• Do Hong Kong English teachers attempt to counter the nexus      of difficulty?

Classroom observation

Observation instruments

Our observation technique

Feedback

InterventionsTeacher A

Teacher B

Teacher C

Analysis

10. INTERVENTION STRATEGIES AND A SUGGESTED INTERVENTION MODEL

Systems analysis

Comparisons between TA Language Learning and other methods and approaches

TALL in principle

TALL in practice

Intervention strategies

11. CONCLUSION

Results of the study

Directions of future research

12. BIBLIOGRAPHY