George W。 Wilkins(1972) indicates, “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed。” Vocabulary is part of the core of communicative competence(Canale and Swain ,1980)。 It shows that vocabulary is the key to comprehend and express。 Therefore, how to help students avoid making lexical errors and do better in their usage of vocabulary in English writing has become a practical problem in English teaching and learning。来自优W尔Y论W文C网WWw.YoueRw.com 加QQ7520,18766

Errors Analysis theory, appearing in 1970s, sheds new light on learners’ errors and indicates error analysis is a valuable source for the teaching and learning。 This theory shows that errors are significant in telling teachers what needs to be taught, in telling researchers how learning proceeds and those errors are a means whereby learners test their hypotheses about the language to be learnt (Dai Weidong& He zhaoxiong, 2013)。 What’s more, according to Richards(1985), Error analysis can identify learners’ strategies, gain information about common difficulties in learning, and discover the causes of learner errors。 It is also an aid to teaching or in the preparation of teaching materials。 On the basis of Error Analysis, it is found that analyzing the lexical errors can help to solve the problems existing in vocabulary learning and teaching。

1。2 Research Significances

Based on the Error Analysis and previous studies, in this study, the author analyzes lexical errors corrected from the compositions written by Grade Two students in a Chinese middle school。 The author identifies the major types of lexical errors and concludes the main causes。 Finally, the author provides some effective word learning strategies for students and useful teaching strategies for teachers。 The significances of this research can be concluded as follow:

 Firstly, it can help students cultivate positive attitudes towards errors and build up self-confidence。 It can let students realize that they should view errors as a way to test their mastery of the language rather than a failure。 It can guide them to discover their weakness from their errors and enrich them through the error analysis。 What’s more, it provides them with some effective word learning strategies to help them do better in their word usage during English writing。论文网

Secondly, it can also help teachers to realize the significance of lexical errors in English writing teaching, that is, errors can show them the difficult knowledge points and tell them what to teach, rather than a sign of the inadequate teaching techniques or a failure of language learning。 Through error analysis, it can provide teachers some useful suggestions in their teaching。 

2。 Relevant Theories 

2。1 Perspective of Error

2。1。1 Definitions of Error

Corder(1973) defines error as “breaches of code”。 He thinks that errors are the sign of an imperfect knowledge of the code, for learners have not yet internalized the formation rules of the target languages。 Richards(1985) considers error as a linguistic item which shows incomplete learning。 James(1988) defines a language error as “an unsuccessful bit of language”。 Brown(2000) considers error as "a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker, reflecting the inter-language competence of the learner。"

Different linguists have their different definitions of error。 But in a way they share something in common。 That is errors are made while learners fail to follow the correct rules of the target language。 Thus, in this study, error is defined as a deviation from accepted rules or patterns of the target language。

2。1。2 Error and Mistake

Error and mistake are usually considered synonymous in the dictionary, but actually they are totally different in linguistics。