The Mistakes of Japanese EFL Learners when Speaking

Graduation Thesis

Presented to

the Faculty of the Department of

English Language and Literature

Notre Dame Seishin University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

by

Kanna Fujii

2021

Contents

Abstract v

Chapter One 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.1.1 How do we learn language? 2

1.2 Definition of mistake and error 3

1.2.1 Performance errors and competence errors 4

1.2.2 Local errors and global errors 5

1.2.3 Lexical errors and syntax errors 5

1.2.4 Causes of errors 6

1.2.4.1 Japanese English 7

1.2.5 Language transfer 7

1.2.5.1 Positive transfer 7

1.2.5.2 Negative transfer 8

1.2.6 The difference between spoken and written mistakes

1.3 Previous research 10

1.3.1 Dulay and Burt (1973) 11

1.3.2 Ellis (1986) 12

1.3.3 Ginger software 13

1.3.4 Izzo (1993) 14

1.4 Summary 16

1.5 Research Questions 16ii

1.6 Conclusion 17

Chapter Two 18

2.1 Introduction 18

2.2 The experiment 18

2.2.1 Introduction to the experiment 18

2.2.2 Method 19

2.2.2.1) Subjects 19

2.2.2.2) Test design 19

2.2.2.3) Procedure 22

2.2.3 Results 25

2.3 Summary 30

Chapter Three 32

3.1 Introduction 32

3.2 Summary of the results from Chapter Two 33

3.3 Comparing previous research and these data 34

3.4 Research questions 36

3.5 Implications 38

3.6 Limitations of the Experiments 39

3.7 Further research 39

3.8 Conclusion 40

References 41

Appendices 44

iii

iv

Abstract

English education in Japan underwent radical changes in 2020. English

education, which had been taught from the 5th grade in elementary school, has

now started from the 3rd grade in elementary school from 2020. Until now,

English has been taught as a "subject" from junior high school, but in 2020 it

began as a main course in the 5th grade in elementary school. From 2021, all

English classes in junior high school will be conducted in English. For this

reason, teachers need to be more careful to make it easier for students to

understand the class than ever. Some people may think that English native

speakers can teach English to Japanese students better than Japanese English

teachers. Of course, native teachers will be able to teach certain points such as

pronunciation better than Japanese English teachers. However, Japanese

English teachers will be able to teach grammar or even pronunciation better

because they know the difference between English and Japanese. Moreover,

they are also English learners. That is why it is important for Japanese English

teachers to know in advance the grammar that Japanese people find difficult to

learn. So, in this thesis looked at the mistakes of Japanese EFL learners in order

to find out which grammar items Japanese learners struggle with.

In Chapter One, we presented the definitions of mistakes and errors. And

previous research on error analysis and interference errors.

v

In Chapter Two, we looked at the results of what grammatical mistakes

Japanese people make and the reasons to make mistakes. And we looked at the

language interference. Both tests and questionnaires were taken by students

who took secondary education.

In Chapter Three, we analyzed the results of Japanese English learners’

mistakes. It was found that Japanese people often make mistakes in English

grammar and found that Japanese people make certain mistakes because their

mother language interferences.

vi

Chapter 1: Background

1.1 Introduction

English is used as an international language. English education in Japan

is the key to connecting Japanese with people from all around the world.

Moreover, English is used as a tool to solve global issues. 2020 was a year of

major change in English education in Japan. Japanese English teachers will be

required to teach English better and more efficiently.

Why cannot English teachers in Japan be native speakers? If so, they can

teach students better because they are fluent English speakers. The reasons

English education in Japan is taught by Japanese English teachers vary. It is

because it is cheaper to hire a Japanese English teacher than ALT. Another

reason is because Japanese education law only will give teaching licenses to

those who pass the Japanese license curriculum, so ALTs are not considered

teachers under Japanese law. Another possible reason is because Japanese

English teachers know the weaknesses of Japanese learners better than native

speakers in some points. Japanese English teachers can understand the

difficulties of learning English, and they can teach some tips of learning English

to the students. To provide better classes to students, teachers need to know the

difficulties of learning English well. So, Chapter One of this thesis focuses on the

types of errors and language interference. In Chapter Two, we looked at the

results of what grammatical mistakes Japanese people make and the reasons for

1

making mistakes. And we looked at mother language interference. Both tests and

questionnaires were taken by students who took secondary education. In

Chapter Three, we analyzed the results of Japanese peoples’ mistakes. It was

found that Japanese people often make mistakes with certain English grammar

items and found that Japanese people make certain mistakes because their

mother tongue interferes. We will look at these later.

1.1.1 How do we learn language?

The question is what is the difference in the process of language

acquisition between mother language and the second language? Oi (2018)

explains language acquisition can be divided into man-made language

acquisition situations and natural language acquisition situations. The man-made

language acquisition situation is generally taught as “learning” in the classroom,

whereas the natural language acquisition situation is naturally learned in the

context of everyday life and it is just like we learn a mother language [Oi /

translated by the writer]. We learned our mother languages’ rules such as

grammar rules while experiencing making mistakes and realizing what was

incorrect and correcting it in daily life conversation. It is difficult to acquire the

correct form of mother language just to imitate parents talking in childhood. Oi

shows the reason why it is difficult to acquire just by imitating as follows.

Once we acquire how to use negative form, utterances such as "

明るいじゃない" or "おもしろいじゃない" appear. When the adults

2

around the child hear these errors in Japanese sentences, they

only care about the meaning of the sentences, so it is difficult for

them to correct their mistakes such as telling them “明るくない“

is a correct form not “明るいじゃない." [Oi, 2018]

From this example, we can find children are learning a mother language while

they are making mistakes and realizing them and not just imitating adults’

sayings. Oi (2018) explained that in man-made language acquisition situations, it

is difficult to learn a language based on self-awareness. This is because there is

always a teacher beside the children, and they often fix their mistakes when they

make mistakes. Moreover, in addition to these two learning situations, the

environment also affects the language acquisition. Oka (2018) explained the

environment theory as follows.

Let us suppose we take one of the twin babies who was born in

Japan to America and left the other twin baby in Japan. The child

who was taken to America started speaking English soon, of

course. In other words, it is an environmental theory in language

acquisition. [Oka/ translated by the author]

As we can see from this example, the learning situation affects language

acquisition.

1.2 Definition of mistake and error

3

The Cambridge dictionary (1995) defines mistake as “an action, decision,

or judgment that produces an unwanted or unintentional result." And error is “a

mistake." However, if we look both carefully, mistakes and errors are completely

different. Mistakes are accidents and you know you are incorrect. On the other

hand, an error occurs when you do not know something, so you made the

mistakes. Why do we make mistakes when we learn a second language? There

are mainly four types of mistakes. We make mistakes due to a lack of care and

we call them “sloppy mistakes." For example, sometimes we make a calculation

mistake in a math test. If we calm down and solve it, we may not make such a

small mistake. Another type of mistake happens when we feel too much pressure

which we call “High-stakes mistakes." For example, people make mistakes in

important situations when they are under pressure such as during piano

contests. Another type is we make mistakes when we do not know the rule and

we call it “the aha-moment mistakes." For example, when you want to extinguish

fire, you must use water instead of gasoline, but if you do not know the rule, you

might put gasoline and then you will realize “aha! I made a mistake.” The last

type of the mistake happens when we just try even if we know it is incorrect. The

last type of mistake is called “the stretch mistakes” and happens when you are

trying to improve but fail. For example, you realized you had seen that word

before, but you forgot the meaning and you tried but you made mistakes.

1.2.1 Performance errors and competence errors

4

Touchie (1986) explains performance errors and competence errors as

follows.

Researchers in the field of applied linguistics usually distinguish

between two types of errors: performance errors and competence

errors. Performance errors are often made by learners when they

are tired or hurried. This type of error is not serious, so it can be

fixed with little effort by learners and so is a type of ‘sloppy mistake’

or ‘high stakes mistake’. On the other hand, competence errors are

more serious than performance errors since it reflects inadequate

learning. (Touchie, 1986)

1.2.2 Local errors and global errors

There are other types of errors. Touchie (1986) explains as follows.

Local errors do not hinder communication and understanding the

meaning of an utterance. Global errors, on the other hand, are

more serious than local errors because global errors interfere with

communication and disrupt the meaning of utterances. Local errors

include noun and verb inflections, and the use of articles,

prepositions, and auxiliaries. Global errors, for example, involve

incorrect word order in a sentence.

1.2.3 Lexical errors and syntax errors

5

Other types of error occur in language learning. There are four types of

errors that exist: the phonological, the morphological, the lexical, and the

syntactic. Touchie (1986) explains those errors as follows.

An example of a phonological error is the hick of distinction

between the phoneme /p/ and the phoneme /b/ among Arab ESL

learners; so we hear them saying *pird and *brison, for example,

instead of *bird and *prison. An example of a morphological error is

the production of such errors as *womans, *sheeps, and *furnitures.

A lexical error involves inappropriate direct translation from the

learner's native language or the use of incorrect lexical items in the

second language. Examples of lexical errors are: This is the home

that my father built, and *The clock is now ten. Finally, examples of

syntactic errors are errors in word order, subject-verb agreement,

and the use of the resumptive pronoun in English relative clauses

produced by Arab ESL learners as illustrated in: *The boy that I

saw him is called Ali.

1.2.4 Causes of errors

There are mainly two causes of errors in second language learning. The first are

called interlingual errors and the second are intralingual errors. Touchie (1986)

explains these two causes as follows.

6

The native language of learners plays a significant role in learning a

second language. Errors due to the influence of the native

language are called interlingual errors. Interlingual errors are also

called transfer or interference errors. ・・・Intralingual and

developmental errors are due to the difficulty of the second/target

language.

1.2.4.1 Japanese English

Errors may emerge from Japanese English. Gairai-go is one of the loan words

made by Japanese and used in Japan. Japanese English is similar to English, so

it may not be understood because some gairaigo are expressed completely

differently in English speaking communities, or it may be interpreted as a

completely different thing, for example, guard man [security guard], beach

sandals [flip-flop], free size [one-size-fits-all], parker [hoodie] and so on.

1.2.5 Language transfer

We are sometimes influenced by our mother language when we learn a

second language. We call this language interference, or language transfer. It

means applying the rules of a language which learners already know transfer to

foreign languages as well. Japanese sentence structure, grammar or

pronunciation influence a lot when Japanese learn English. There are two types

of language transfer. One is positive transfer, and the other is negative transfer.

7

1.2.5.1 Positive transfer

If the mother language is influenced by a second language in a good way,

it means that positive transfer occurred. If a positive transition occurs, learners

will find it easier to learn a foreign language. As an example of a positive transfer,

Japanese can quickly acquire the English grammar of possessives because

there is a particle in Japanese sentence structure, so Japanese can adapt this

rule for English sentences. For instance, Japanese has わたしの, かれの, 学校

の and so on. According to Krashen's natural order theory (1982), however,

language learners acquire the possessive at the final stage of acquisition.

1.2.5.2 Negative transfer

Negative transfer is a type of language transfer that makes acquiring a

foreign language difficult. For example, when Japanese learn English, it is

difficult for them to learn definite and indefinite articles since they do

not use them in Japanese. Not only for grammar, but also, we can see

negative transfer when we acquire pronunciation. For example, it is

says that the pronunciation of /r/ and /l/ are the most difficult for

Japanese because there is only らりるれろ in Japanese. It is difficult for

Japanese to distinguish between the pronunciation of /r/ and /l/.

Furthermore, negative transfer occurs because of cultural differences. As

examples of cultural interference, Japanese people often say, “I’m sorry” in

situations in which they should say “Thank you." Or Japanese people say, “I’m 8

OK.” in situations in which they should say “No." Previously, linguists thought that

language transfer occurred only from the mother language, and there are only

positive transfers which influence learners in a good way, but they found a

negative transfer as well.

Furthermore, language transfer occurs not between the mother language

and the second language, but also from the second and third languages. From

this, transfer occurs not only in both directions but also in many directions. That

is why in recent years this transfer is called a cross linguistic influence since it is

hard to find which language influenced it. When people acquire language, it is

inevitable that language transfers are both positive and negative.

1.2.6 The difference between spoken and written mistakes

When we acquire language, we make inevitable mistakes such as we

make mistakes of pronunciation or intonation in speaking, spelling, or

punctuation in writing. lhsan (2016) explained the difference between speaking

and writing while citing Sako (1980). Sako (1980) claims there are mainly two big

differences between speaking and writing and explained the differences as

follows.

In a speaking test aspect like pronunciation, vocabulary knowledge,

grammatical control, and fluency should be the focus while in a

writing test aspect like lexical items, structural items, accuracy, and

speed should be the emphasis. Another important difference

9

between them is that they have different kinds of audience: direct

audience in speaking versus indirect audience in writing, in

speaking, the speaker faces the audience so that non-verbal

signals might help a lot in transmitting the messages to the-listener,

while in writing, the writer does not face the audience directly so

that the punctuation of writing instead of the non-verbal signals

helps a great deal in transferring the messages to the reader.

Like there are the differences between speaking and writing, lhsan (2016)

examined if there is a difference between speaking and writing in errors. He

examined the speaking and writing errors made by the fifth semester students of

the English education study program and faculty of teacher training and

educational Sriwijaya university in the academic year of 1994/1995. lhsan (2016)

described the errors in speaking and writing and analyzed them as follows.

Errors in speaking and in writing seem very much alike in terms of

their possible sources. Based on various possible sources of errors

in foreign language learning as well as in second language

acquisition mentioned previously, the intralingual errors are

predominant compared to the interlingual errors. Based on the

examples of errors made in speaking as well as in writing described

earlier, over 75% of the errors can be said to be caused by the

interference of the target language systems.

10

From his research, we can find speaking and writing errors are quite the

same in terms of the kinds of errors.

1.3 Previous Research

In this section we will look at previous research by Dulay and Burt (1973),

Ellis (1986), Ginger Software (2013) and Izzo (1993).

1.3.1 Dulay and Burt (1973)

Dulay and Burt (1973) studied 388 clear errors from the speech of 145

Spanish-speaking children aged 5 to 8 years. The Bilingual Syntax Measure

BSM was used to measure children’s grammatical structure. They explained

BSM as follows.

The Bilingual Syntax Measure (BSM) is an instrument designed

to measure young children’s acquisition of English and/or Spanish

grammatical structure in an L2 situation. [Dulay and Burt]

Dulay and Burt classified 388 children’s’ errors into 4 types:

developmental errors, interference errors, unique errors and ambiguous errors. In

Dulay and Burt’s research, they found that the influence of the mother tongue is

small when they learn English as a second language. Dulay and Burt explain the

data as follows.

11

[their data show] 3 percent of the 388 error types fell into the

interference category, and 85 per cent were developmental. The

remaining 12 percent were unique… (Dulay and Burt p. 249)

Table 1: Distribution of errors by Duly and Burt (1973)

From these data, we can find we are not influenced so much when we

learn a second language. Dulay and Burt claim that most of the mistakes made

by second language learners were developmental errors. They claim interference

errors barely occur.

1.3.2 Ellis (1986)

Dulay and Burt claim that 85% of errors are developmental, 12% of errors

are unique, and only 3% are interference errors. However, Ellis (1986) claims

that other research does not bear out Dulay and Burt’s findings and there has

been little agreement as to exactly what proportion of errors can be put down to

12

transfer. [p.28] Table 2 below shows the percentages of interference errors

reported by various studies.

Table 2: The percentages of interference errors reported by various

studies

From this table, Ellis mentioned that Dulay and Burt’s interference

percentage is quite low compared with other studies.

1.3.3 Ginger Software (2013)

Ginger Software company reported the ranking of grammatical mistakes

Japanese often make. Table 3 below shows the data of the grammar error

rankings in Japan and global average by ginger software. The first one is definite

article errors 20.2% in Japan with the global average at 16.8%. The second one

is misuse of common nouns and proper nouns at 19.2% in Japan and at 13.8%

13

as the global average. The third one is articles "a" and "an" error 11.0% in Japan

and 9.2% as a global average. The fourth one is compound word errors 10.3% in

Japan and 14.4% in global average. The fifth one is preposition errors 8.1% in

Japan and 8.1% in global average.

Table 3: Grammar error rankings in Japan and global average by Ginger

Software

From these data we can find that Japanese English learners are not good

at articles, nouns, compound words, and prepositions. Especially in terms of

articles, it accounts for about 30% of grammatical mistakes.

1.3.4 Izzo (1993)

Izzo (1993) reported the English writing errors of Japanese students. He

sent a questionnaire to 159 universities, and 34 professors replied to his survey.

In his survey, the questionnaire asked the EFL writing professors to list the most

common errors made by their students. The table below shows the result of his

research. According to Izzo (1993), the reported errors are listed in the first

14

column of the table. The second column indicates the number of times the error

was reported. Since the respondents reported up to six errors the errors were

rated according to the position that they were reported. Errors listed first were

scored as 6, and errors listed sixth (last) were scored as 1. Other errors were

scored according to the respective position in which they were reported.

15

Table 4: English writing errors of Japanese students

16

From his research, we can find common grammar mistakes by Japanese

university students. Articles were a frequently reported error. Izzo (1993) claimed

that since the Japanese language does not have articles to contend with, they

are an especially difficult problem for Japanese EFL students. Therefore, articles

are consistently identified as a weakness for all levels of EFL learners in Japan.

The topic of articles is somewhat difficult to explain to Japanese EFL students,

and the problems associated with their use can be corrected only through much

study and frequent use of the English language. The second common mistake

was subject- verb agreement. Izzo (1993) claimed that reduction of verb errors

also requires EFL students to invest time and effort in their studies and to use

English as frequently as possible.

1.4 Summary

The data by Dulay and Burt (1973) show that there is little interference

with their mother language when learning English as a second language. The

data by Ellis shows that Dulay and Burt's error rate due to their mother tongue

interference is extremely low compared to other data. The data by Ginger

Software announced its grammar error rankings that are easy to make mistakes

from analysis of user usage data. Izzo (1993) showed the English writing errors

of Japanese students.

1.5 Research Questions

This thesis has three research questions:

17

1. What kinds of errors do Japanese people make?

2. Do they make mistakes because of language transfer?

3. Why do they make mistakes?

1.6 Conclusion

In this chapter, we looked at the definitions of mistake and error. And we

found the types of errors. In previous research, Dulay and Burt (1973) claim that

there is little interference with our mother language when learning English as a

second language. The data by Ellis shows that Dulay and Burt's error rate due to

mother tongue interference is extremely low compared to other error types. For

example, according to the data by Tran-Chi-Chau (1975), he claimed 51% of

language interference occurred in his test. The data by Ginger Software shows

that Japanese English learners often make mistakes in articles “a”, “an”, and

“the." From Izzo’s data, we found some common grammar mistakes by Japanese

university students. Articles were a frequently reported error. In Chapter Two, we

will look at the data from the speaking test and the questionnaire. We will look at

the type of errors Japanese people make, and we will find out whether Japanese

people make mistakes because of language transfer, or not.

18

Chapter 2: The Data

2.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, we looked at the definitions of mistake and error as well

as looking at the types of errors. In this chapter, we will look at the data from two

experiments. The first one was a speaking test where we will find out what kind

of grammatical errors Japanese people who took secondary education make.

The second test was a questionnaire which looks at language interference from

spoken data. According to Dulay and Burt’s research (1973), there is little

interference with our mother language when learning English as a second

language. We will look at whether language interference occurs or not.

2.2 The experiment

What kinds of errors do Japanese people make when speaking English

and why do they make mistakes?

2.2.1 Introduction to the experiment

There were two types of tests. One was a speaking test, and the other

was a questionnaire. The speaking test was conducted to find out which

grammar mistakes Japanese English learners made. The aim of the speaking

test was to obtain more accurate data than the writing test because the subjects

could not think for a long time or check the dictionary, or on the Internet so there

19

was a 30 second time limit during the test. This speaking test included twenty-

three grammar items such as tense, auxiliary, passive which the subjects learned

in secondary English education. From Dulay and Burt’s research we found we

can divide errors into four types which they claim that we do not interfere so

much when we learn a second language. However, Ellis claims the amount of

interference found in Dulay and Burt’s is quite low compared with another

research. We will look at whether language interference occurs or not. We will

look at two types of experiments. In the first experiment, we will find what kind of

errors Japanese people make and in the second questionnaire, we will find how

Japanese interferes with English.

2.2.2 Method

1) Subjects

The subjects of the speaking test were 20 20-22-year-old Notre Dame

Seishin University students who took secondary education in Japan. Most of the

students were majoring English but also modern society. The subjects of the

questionnaire were 30 Notre Dame Seishin University students ages 19-22.

2) Test design

There are two parts – the speaking test and questionnaire of language

interference.

The speaking test

20

For this experiment, zoom was used for the interviews and PowerPoint

was used for the display of the test items. 20 subjects did speak tests. During the

speaking test, their voice was recorded. Each person took 15 minutes to do this

experiment. The subjects were shown PowerPoint slides through zoom function.

30 Japanese sentences were displayed on the PowerPoint slides, and the

subject had to translate those sentences into English within 30 seconds. The first

three questions were practice items. In 30 Japanese sentences, there were 24

grammar items. After this speaking test, write down what each subject said and

ask the subjects why they made a mistake. The subjects chose the reason to

make mistakes following four choices. The sentences can be found in the

Appendix.

The following are the types of mistakes the subjects were expected to make.

A. Stretch mistakes

例：答えが違うと思いながらも知っている知識を活用して挑戦してみた。しか

し間違えた。 (I tried to make use of the knowledge I knew even though

I thought the answer was different. But I made a mistake)

B. Aha-moment mistakes

例：ただ正解に達するまでの知識を持っていなかったので間違えた。 (I did

not have the knowledge to reach the correct answer, so I made a

mistake.)

21

For example, there is a fire to put out, but we do not have water. We extinguish it

with alcohol and then learn “-aha- alcohol is flammable!” (from the internet)

C. Sloppy mistakes

例：ケアレスミスのこと。知識は持っているけれど間違えてしまった。

(Careless mistakes. I have the knowledge, but I made a mistake.)

D. High-stakes mistakes

例：緊張のせいで間違えた。例えば、時間制限があったり、録音されいたりし

たため緊張した。 (I made a mistake because of nervousness. For

example, I was nervous because there was a time limit, or I was

recorded.)

The questionnaire

The questionnaire asked the following questions.

1. People are chatting there and here. あちこちで人々がおしゃべり

している。Is this sentence correct or incorrect?

2. Please copy this document in white and black. この書類を白黒で

コピーをしてください。Is this sentence correct or incorrect?

22

3. He is sleeping day and night. 彼は昼夜を問わずに寝ている。Is

this sentence correct or incorrect?

4. The south and north geographic poles 南北極。Is this sentence

correct or incorrect?

5. The clothes they sell here are “free size fits all.” ここで売られて

いる服はフリーサイズです。Is this sentence correct or incorrect?

6. I bought damage jeans yesterday. 私は昨日ダメージ・ジーンズを

買った。Is this sentence correct or incorrect?

7. I bought print T-shirts yesterday. 私は昨日プリントＴシャツを

買った。Is this sentence correct or incorrect?

8. お店の看板に: We are close. 「 閉店中です。」Is this sentence

correct or incorrect?

9. Did you buy a decoration cake? デコレーションケーキは買った？

Is this sentence correct or incorrect?

10. Have you already checked the postbox? もうポストを確認し

た？Is this sentence correct or incorrect?

3) Procedure

23

Making the question

I referred to two grammar books; Murphy's Cambridge English Grammar

(2015) and Zoom Comprehensive English (2014) to make a Japanese sentence

with 24 grammar items. The questions include the following grammar items.

1. Definite articles

2. Indefinite articles

3.Tense [present]

4. Tense [present progressive]

5. Tense [past]

6. Tense [past progressive]

7. Tense [future]

8.Tense [present perfect]

9.Tense [past perfect]

10. Auxiliaries

11. Passive

12. Infinitive

24

13. Gerunds

14. Comparatives

15. There is / are

16. Relative clauses

17. Subjunctive mood

18. Used to

19. Prepositions

20. Singular / Plurals

21. The third person singular

22. Interrogatives

23. Word choice

24. Pronouns

Collecting the data

The subjects were given a speaking test. After the speaking tests,

subjects’ answers were written down by the researcher about what each subject

said and asked the subjects why they made a mistake. And the subjects were

given a questionnaire. 30 students answered this questionnaire.25

2.2.3 Results

Introduction

First, we will look at the data for the speaking test, then we will look at the

questionnaire.

Analyzing the speaking test

The researcher wrote down what they said based on the recordings of the

subject's speaking test and summarized their mistakes by grammar point. All

grammar items were scored. The higher the score, means that the more

mistakes these subjects made.

Table 5: The types of errors, with samples

Grammar

Number of

errors

% of

errors

made Example

Definite article 26/319 8.2%

I bought new computer last week, but I broke

keyboard yesterday.

Indefinite article 25/319 7.8%

I bought new computer last week. / There is a

apple. / writing letter.

Tense [present] 15/319 4.7% They do jogging every morning in the park.

26

Tense [present

progressive] 0/319 0.0%

Tense [past] 12/319 3.8% Jorge go fishing every day.

Tense [past

progressive] 7/319 2.2% When the phone rang, Jack had read a book.

Tense [future] 19/319 6.0% I'll buy it tomorrow. [I'm going to]

Tense [present

perfect] 10/319 3.1% Tom lost his key.

Tense [past

perfect] 15/319 4.7%

When I go to the party, Tom was going to back

home.

Auxiliary 4/319 1.3% The bus will coming soon.

Passive 9/319 2.8% The door was locked.

Infinitive 5/319 1.6% Cathy wants to bring to NY by her parents.

Gerund 18/319 5.6% I forgot to read this book.

Comparative 9/319 2.8% It is easy to calling more than writing the letter.

There is / are 4/319 1.3% There is an apple and three dishes on the table.

Relative clause 11/319 3.4% There are not on the map that we were eating.

Subjunctive

mood 30/319 9.4% I wish I had known Ben's phone number.

Used to 2/319 0.6% The baby is not crying now, but she used to crying 27

every night.

Preposition 19/319 6.0%

Could you make the hotcake to me? / There is no

location in the map which we had a meal.

Singular /

Plurals 12/319 3.8% It doesn't have much actions.

The third person

singular 17/319 5.3% she stay at her home. / she want.

Interrogative 17/319 5.3% Do you know what time is it now?

word choice 19/319 6.0% His key was stolen during the night. [car]

Pronoun 14/319 4.4% Tom had lost his key, but he found.

From the speaking test we found out that the subjects made the most

mistakes in subjection mood. Table 6 below shows the results of the subjects up

to 5th ranking.

Table 6: The ranking of errors

Ranking Grammar

1 Subjunctive mood

2 Definite article

3 Indefinite article

4 Tense [future], preposition, word choice

28

5 Gerund

From this data, we can see that Japanese people often have mistaken

with subjection moods. The subjects made mistakes in the definite article “the” in

second place in the ranking. The third place was the indefinite article.

Analyzing the questionnaire

30 students answered the questionnaire. Table 7below shows the result of

the questionnaire.

Table 7: Language interference

Question: Is this sentence correct or incorrect? Correct answer rate

1. People are chatting there and here. 73.3%

2. Please copy this document in white and black. 46.7%

3. He is sleeping day and night. 56.7%

4. The south and north geographic poles. 60%

5. The clothes they sell here are “free size fits all.” 56.7%

6. I bought damage jeans yesterday. 73.7%

7. I bought print T-shirts yesterday. 70%

8. Shop sign：We are close. 56.7%

9. Did you buy a decoration cake? 60%

10.Have you already checked the postbox? 23.3%29

From this questionnaire, we found that there were many incorrect answers

in the two questions; “Please copy this document in white and black.” and “Have

you already checked the postbox?”

Analyzed the error

Next, we will analyze the errors and the subjects answered why

they made mistakes. Table 8 below summarizes the reasons for the

mistakes.　

Table 8: The reason for the mistakes

Name Number Percentage

A. Stretch mistakes 45 16%

B. aha-moment mistakes 44 16%

C. Sloppy mistakes 131 46%

D. High-stakes mistakes 63 22%

From these data, we found that sloppy mistakes were the most common

reason for making mistakes at about 50% of the total. The second common

30

reason was High-stakes mistakes. The subjects answered they were extremely

nervous about the time limit and the recording.

Next, we will look at the data for the questionnaire. Table 9 shows the

percentage of correct answers and incorrect answers. Question number 1, 2, 4,

6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are incorrect sentences. The errors are marked with an asterisk.

Table 9: Language interference

Question: Is this sentence correct or incorrect? Correct Incorrect

1. People are chatting *there and here. 73.3% 26.7%

2. Please copy this document in *white and black. 46.7% 53.3%

3. He is sleeping day and night. 56.7% 43.3%

4. The *south and north geographic poles. 60% 40%

5. The clothes they sell here are “free size fits all.” 56.7% 43.3%

6. I bought *damage jeans yesterday. 73.7% 26.7%

7. I bought *print T-shirts yesterday. 70% 30%

8. Shop sign：We are *close. 56.7% 43.3%

9. Did you buy a *decoration cake? 60% 40%

10.Have you already checked the *postbox? 23.3% 76.7%

We found that many answered that those two sentences were correct;

“Please copy this document in white and black.” and “Have you already checked

31

the postbox?” The reason why they made mistakes is because in Japanese there

is a word “shiro-kuro” which is “white and black” in English, so it is difficult for

them to realize that the sentence was incorrect. The same reason applies to

another sentence that many people made a mistake. Here, we can say there is a

language interference occurring in these sentences. From these data, we found

that there is a language interference in Japanese and in English.

2.3 Summary

In this chapter we looked at two experiments. First one was a speaking

test, and we found out what kind of grammatical errors Japanese people who

took secondary education make. We found that Japanese English learners made

the most mistakes in the subjunctive mood. The second most common mistakes

were the definite article “the." The third most common mistake was the indefinite

articles “a” and “an." We found that sloppy mistakes were the most common

reason for making mistakes. The second common reason was High-stakes

mistakes. The subjects answered they were extremely nervous about the time

limit and the recording.

The questionnaire looked at language interference. According to Dulay

and Burt’s (1973) research, they claim there is little interference with their mother

language when learning English as a second language. We looked at whether

language interference occurs or not. We found that there were many incorrect

answers in the two questions, such as “Please copy this document in white and

black.” and “Have you already checked the postbox?” They might make mistakes

32

because of Japanese English. We can say that the subject made a mistake in the

word order of English words because of the Japanese English collocation. We

often hear Japanese English in daily life, so we cannot notice whether it’s English

or Japanese English. If we think that the item whose correct answer rate is less

than 50% is a language transfer, we can say that 20% mother tongue

interference is occurring. In the next chapter, we will review the data from

Chapter Two and compare it with the previous research in Chapter One.

33

Chapter 3: The Analysis

3.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, we looked at the definitions of mistake and error and

looked at the types of errors. From previous research, Dulay and Burt (1973)

claim that there is little interference with their mother language when learning

English as a second language. The data by Ellis (1985) shows that Dulay and

Burt's (1973) error rate due to their mother tongue interference is extremely low

compared to other data. The data by Ginger Software shows that Japanese

English learners often make mistakes in articles “a”, “an”, and “the." From a

writing error test by Izzo (1993), we found that the article's mistake was the most

frequent error.

In Chapter Two, we found out what kind of grammatical errors Japanese

people who took secondary education make. And we looked at the reasons for

making mistakes. From the questionnaire, we found out that there was mother

language interference occurring.

In Chapter Three, we will summarize the data and look at it in detail by

comparing it to the data observed in Chapter One. We will then answer the

research questions, look at the limitations to the study and suggest some

implications for teacher and learning in general.

34

3.2 Summary of the results from Chapter Two

In Chapter Two, we saw the results from the experiment and the

questionnaire. From the experiment, we found out what kind of grammatical

errors the subjects make. Then we looked at the reasons for making mistakes.

From the questionnaire, we found out whether language interference occurs or

not.

From the experiment, we found that the subjects made the most mistakes

in the subjunctive mood. The second most common mistake was the definite

article “the." The third most common mistake was the indefinite articles “a” “an."

We found that Sloppy mistakes were the most common reason for making

mistakes. It was found that 50% of the total were careless mistakes. The second

common reason for the errors was due to high-stakes situations. It was found

that 20% of the total were High-stakes mistakes. The subjects answered they

were extremely nervous about the time limit and the recording.

From the questionnaire, we found that there were many incorrect answers

in the two questions; “Please copy this document in white and black.” and “Have

you already checked the postbox?” The reason why they made mistakes is

because there is a word in Japanese, so it was difficult for Japanese to realize

that the sentence was correct or not. We found that language interference is

occurring.

35

3.3 Comparing previous research and these data

Now we will look at the comparison between previous research data and

Chapter Two experiment data and questionnaire data. First, we will look at the

Ginger Software data and the speaking experiment data. When we compare

Chapter One and Chapter Two data, there are differences between them. Ginger

Software shows that there is a tendency that Japanese people make

grammatical mistakes. Table 10 below summarizes the ranking of their data.

Table 10: The grammar error rankings in Japan and world average by Ginger

Software. [The table made by the author]

Ranking Grammar

1 Definite article

2 Common noun and proper noun [earth / Earth]

3 Indefinite article

4 Compound word

5 Preposition

According to their data, Japanese English learners make mistakes in

grammar in the following order: definite article, common noun and proper noun,

indefinite article, compound word, and preposition. Table 11 below shows the

ranking of our speaking experiment data.

36

Table 11: The ranking of errors by the subjects

Ranking Grammar

1 Subjunctive mood

2 Definite article

3 Indefinite article

4 Tense [future], preposition, word choice

5 Gerund

We found that the subjects made grammatical mistakes in the following

order: subjunctive mood, definite article, indefinite article, tense[future] /

preposition / word choice, and gerund. The percentage of subjects who made a

mistake in the subjunctive mood was 9.4% of the total. We found that when it

came to the subjunctive mood, there was confusion in the tense. And we found

that the subjects make more mistakes in definite articles “the” than indefinite

articles “a” “an." Similar to the writing test results by Izzo (1993), our experiments

showed that Japanese often make article mistakes in speaking.

Next, we will compare the data between Dulay and Burt (1973) data, Ellis

(1985) data and Chapter Two data. According to Dulay and Burt’s research, we

found that only 3% of errors were caused by language interference. However, for

these data, Ellis pointed out that Dulay and Burt’s number of language

interference was too low compared to other data. In Chapter Two we found out

how much language interference occurs. From Chapter Two, we found that about 37

20% of the mistakes result from language interference. That’s why we can say

that Dulay and Burt’s number of language interference is too low, and we can say

that Ellis’s point was correct.

Lastly, we will compare four types of mistakes. In Chapter One, Dulay and

Burt classified 388 children’s’ errors into 4 types: developmental errors,

interference errors, unique errors, and ambiguous errors. In Chapter Two, we

classified the subject’s errors into the stretch mistakes, the aha-moment

mistakes, Sloppy mistakes, and High-stakes mistakes. From Duay and Burt’s

data, we found our 85% were developmental mistakes. In Chapter Two, we

found sloppy mistakes which means careless mistakes were the most common

reason for making mistakes. About 50% of the total were sloppy mistakes. The

second common reason was High-stakes mistakes. Considering the aha-moment

mistakes and Sloppy mistakes as development mistakes, it can be said that

about 60% were development mistakes.

3.4 Research questions

This section will answer the research questions from Chapter One.

1. What kinds of errors do Japanese people make?

The data show that Japanese English learners make grammatical

mistakes in the following order: subjunctive mood, definite article, indefinite

article, tense[future] / preposition / word choice, and gerund. And, the data show

38

Japanese English learners make more mistakes in definite articles “the” than

indefinite articles “a” “an."

Of all the mistakes, 9.4% were subjunctive mistakes. The example

mistake is “I wish I had known Ben’s phone number.” Subjects often made a

mistake in the tense in the subjunctive mood. 8.2% was definite article errors.

7.8% was indefinite article errors. The sum of definite and indefinite article errors

was 16%. The example mistake is “I brought [a] new computer last week, but I

broke [the] keyboard yesterday.” or “There is a apple.”

2. Do they make mistakes because of language transfer?

We can say the subject made mistakes because of language transfer. The

data show there is a language interference occurring. From these data, we found

that there is a language interference in Japanese and in English.

3. Why do they make mistakes?

There are several reasons the subjects made mistakes. However, the data

show that the most common reason they made mistakes was because of sloppy

mistakes. About 50% of the total were sloppy mistakes. The second common

reason was High-stakes mistakes. The subjects answered they were extremely

nervous about the time limit and the recording.

For the speaking test, the subjects made lots of mistakes in article,

subjunctive mode, future tense and so on. Another possible reason they made

39

the error is due to the difference in test format. The speaking test was the

performance test, and the questionnaire was the competence test. We can say

that the test format is one of the reasons the subjects made mistakes.

3.5 Implications

This thesis data means for both English learners and English teachers.

First, we will look at the English learners. From this thesis, we found that there

are certain grammar items that Japanese English learners often make mistakes

when speaking. By knowing what kind of grammar is difficult for Japanese to

learn before learning, learners can have a learning prospect of focusing on

learning those grammar items.

Second, we will look at the English teachers. As I mentioned earlier,

English education in Japan will change a lot from 2020. English education, which

had been taught from the 5th grade of elementary school, but it started from the

3rd grade of elementary school from 2020. Until now, English has been taught as

a "subject" from junior high school, but in 2020 it began in the fifth grade of

elementary school. From 2021, all English classes in junior high school will be

conducted in English. For this reason, teachers need to be more careful in class

than ever before to make students understand. The reason teachers need to be

more careful in English class is because in this thesis we found out that there are

certain grammar items Japanese find it difficult to acquire and there is language

transfer. It is difficult for native speakers to teach such points. Of course, native

teachers will be able to teach better in certain points such as pronunciation than 40

Japanese English teachers. The important role of Japanese English teachers is

to teach students the difficulty of English that Japanese people can understand

well. That is why it is important for Japanese English teachers to know the

grammar that Japanese people find difficult to learn before.

3.6 Limitations of the Experiments

There are several limitations with this study. Firstly, most of the subjects

were female university students ages 19-22. Secondly, most of the subjects were

English major students and they had a lot of opportunities to speak English in

their class. Thirdly, the experience was conducted by only speaking tests. If we

find out what kind of grammar mistakes Japanese people make, we should do a

writing experiment as well.

3.7 Further research

According to the results of these experiments, there are some ideas which

we can research more from now. From Chapter Two data, we found that about

20% of the mistakes result from language interference. Now we can research

how we can avoid language interference mistakes. And we found out which

grammar Japanese English learners often make mistakes. So, we can research if

the learning order is related to mistakes or not.

41

3.8 Conclusion

Through this research, we could find what kinds of mistakes English

learners make from the speaking experiment. We found out that subjunctive

mood was the most common mistake. Also, we find out that Japanese English

learners make mistakes because of language transfer and the most common

mistakes were sloppy mistakes. Now we found out the types of mistakes and the

reasons to cause those mistakes, so English learners and English teachers can

study or teach with caution when learning English.

42

References

Books

Oka Hideo, Lino Atsushi, Kanazawa Yoko, Tominaga Yuko, Nakabachi Keiichi,

Nakamura Takashi. 2016. English Language Education in the Global Era -A

Course for Future Teachers of English as a Foreign Language. SEIBIDO.

Ellis, Rod 1985. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University

Press.

The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary 1995.

Articles

Dulay, Heidi C; &Burt, Marina K. 1973. Should We Teach Children Syntax?

Language learning, Volume 23, Issue 2 pp. 245-257.

Dulay, Heidi C. Marina K. Burt. 1974. Natural Sequences In Child Second

Language Acquisition. Language learning, Volume 24

Ihsan Diemroh. 2016. Speaking and Writing Errors Made by Students of English

Education. Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan

Krashen, Stephen D. 1982. Principles and Practice in Second Language

Acquisition University of Southern California pp.12-13.

43

Touchie, Y. Hanna.1986. Second Language Learning Errors: Their Types,

Causes, And Treatment. JALT Journal - Issue 8.1. pp. 75-80

Web articles

Abe, Mariko, 2007. Grammatical Errors across Proficiency Levels in L2 Spoken

and Written English

http://www1.tcue.ac.jp/home1/k-gakkai/ronsyuu/ronsyuukeisai/49_3.4/abema.pdf

Accessed October 10, 2020

IT media enter prize, 「日本人は「a」と「the」が苦手？　間違えやすい英

語文法トップ 5」https://www.itmedia.co.jp/bizid/articles/1307/18/news074.html.

Accessed September 20, 2020

Lumen learning. Spoken Versus Written Communication

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introductiontocommunication/chapter/spoken-

versus-written-communica tion/ Accessed October 21, 2020

MindShift. Why Understanding These Four Types of Mistakes Can Help Us

Learn.

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/42874/why-understanding-these-four-types-of-

mistakes-can-help-us-learn. Accessed August 6, 2020

Schütz, Ricardo E. Stephen Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition.

44

https://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash-english.html. Accessed August 10, 2020

45

Appendices

Appendix 1: The English-speaking test

Japanese sentence questions are as follows.

1.私は先週新しいパソコンを買いました。しかし、私は昨日キーボード

を壊しました。

2.彼らは毎朝公園でジョギングをする。

3.A:何をしているのですか？ B:眼鏡を探しています。

4.夏の間、ジョージは毎日釣りに行った。

5.電話が鳴った時、ジャックは本を読んでいた。

6.彼とはもう話さないつもりです。

7.わかっているわ。明日買うつもりよ。 (以前から買うつもりだった)

わかったわ。明日買ってくるわ。 (今買う事を思いついた)

8.トムはカギをなくしてしまった。（今、カギを持っていない。）

9.トムは昨日カギをなくした。

46

10.トムはカギをなくしたが、見つけた。（今、カギを持っている。）

11.私がパーティーに着いたとき、トムはもう家に帰っていました。

12.窓がとても汚れている。掃除しなければいけないね。

13.心配しないで。バスはもうすぐ来るはずだから。

14.ホットケーキを作ってくれない？

15.そのドアはカギがかかっている。

16.彼の車は夜の間に盗まれた。

17.キャシーは、両親に NY に連れて行ってもらいたがっている。

18.言語を習得するには長い時間がかかる。

19.その本を読んだことを忘れてしまった。

20.手紙を書くよりも電話をする方が簡単です。

21.トムはその三人の中で一番背が高い。

22.テーブルの上にリンゴが一つと皿が 3 枚あります。

23.私たちが食事をしたレストランは地図には載っていません。

47

24.家にいるときには、彼女は何でも好きな事が出来る。

25.地図を持っていたら、私たちは道に迷うこともなかったのに。

26.ベンの電話番号を知っていればなあ。

27.この映画はつまらない。全然アクションがないね（映画が私を退屈

さ せている）

28.つまらない。この映画、全然アクションがないね（私はこの映画に

よって退屈させられている。）

29.その赤ちゃんは、今はあまり泣きませんが、以前は毎晩泣いていま

した。

30.あなたは今何時か知っていますか？

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

Appendix 2: Questionnaire

卒論のデータとして利用させて頂きます。ご協力宜しくお願い致します。I will

use your answer as graduation thesis data. Thank you for your

cooperation.

Name

Grade

1

2

3

4

69

Question : 次の英文が正しいかどうか選択してください。辞書等で調べないで

ください。Please select whether the following English is correct. Please

do not check on your dictionary.

1. People are chatting there and here. あちこちで人々がおしゃべりし

ている。

Correct or incorrect

2. Please copy this document in white and black. この書類を白黒でコ

ピーをしてください。

Correct or incorrect

3. He is sleeping day and night. 彼は昼夜を問わずに寝ている。

Correct or incorrect

4. The south and north geographic poles 南北極

Correct or incorrect

5. The clothes they sell here are “free size fits all.” ここで売られてい

る服は

70

フリーサイズです。

Correct or incorrect

6. I bought damage jeans yesterday. 私は昨日ダメージ・ジーンズを

買った。

Correct or incorrect

7. I bought print T-shirts yesterday. 私は昨日プリントＴシャツを買っ

た。

Correct or incorrect

8. お店の看板に: We are close. 「 閉店中です。」

Correct or incorrect

9. Did you buy a decoration cake? デコレーションケーキは買った？

Correct or incorrect

10.Have you already checked the postbox? もうポストを確認した？

Correct or incorrect

これで以上です。ありがとうございました。Thank you so much.

71

Appendix 3: The detailed data for the experiment

Table 1: 私は先週新しいパソコンを買いました。しかし、私は昨日キーボード

を壊しました。

Answers Number

・ I bought new computer last week, but I broke it yesterday. 1

・I bought new PC last week, however I broke the keyboard

yesterday. 4

・I bought a new computer last week, but I broke the keyboard

yesterday. 3

・ I bought a new computer last week, but I broke it yesterday. 1

・ I bought a new PC last week, however I broke the keyboard

yesterday. 1

・ I bought new computer last week, but I broke keyboard

yesterday. 1

・ I bought a new PC last week, however I broke the keyboard of

the PC yesterday. 1

・I bought new computer last week, but I broke keyboard

yesterday. 1

・ I bought a new computer yesterday, but I broke the keyboard. 1

72

・ I bought a new PC last week, but I broke the keyboard

yesterday. 1

・ I bought a new computer last week, but my keyboard broke

yesterday. 1

・I have bought new pasocon last week. But I broken it yesterday. 1

・ I bought a new PC last week, but I broke it yesterday. 1

・ I bought new notebooks last week, but I broke it yesterday. 1

・Last week,I bought a new laptop, but I broke keyboard

yesterday. 1

Table 2: 彼らは毎朝公園でジョギングをする。

Answers Number

・They do jogging every morning in the park. 3

・They go jogging in the park every morning. 2

・They go jogging every morning in the park. 2

・They are jogging every morning in the park. 1

・They jogging every morning in the park. 1

・They jog in the park every morning. 3

73

・They do jogging every morning at the park. 1

・They jog every morning at the park. 2

・They go for jogging every morning at park. 1

・They jogging in the park every morning. 1

・They always jog every morning in the park. 1

・They jogging in the park every day in the morning. 1

Table 3: A:何をしているのですか？ B:眼鏡を探しています。

Answer Number

・What are you doing? I'm looking for grasses. 5

・What are you doing? I'm looking for my glasses. 10

・What are you doing? I'm looking for a glass. 1

・What are you doing? I'm looking for the glasses. 2

・ What are you doing? I'm looking for pair of glasses. 1

・What are you doing? I'm looking for sunglasses. 1

74

Table 4: 夏の間、ジョージは毎日釣りに行った。

Answer Number

・In this summer, Gorge went… 1

・During the summer, Gorge go fishing every day. 1

・George went fishing during the summer. 2

・George went fishing every day during summer. 2

・During summer, George was going to fishing every day. 1

・During summer vacation, George went fishing every day. 1

・During this summer, Gorge went fishing every day. 1

・In summer, George went fishing every day. 1

・George went fishing every day during the summer. 1

・While summer, George went fishing every day. 1

・During the summer, George went fishing every day. 4

・During the summer, George went for fishing every day. 1

・During the summer, George went to fishing. 1

・George went to fishing every day during the summer. 1

75

・During the summer, George go to fishing every day. 1

Table 5: 電話が鳴った時、ジャックは本を読んでいた。

Answer Number

・Jack was reading a book when he had a call. 1

・When phone ring, Jack was reading a book. 1

・Jack was reading a book when the phone rang. 2

・When ringing telephone, Jack was reading books. 1

・ While calling, Jack was reading a book. 1

・ When the phone was ringing, Jack was reading a book. 1

・ When the tell phone rang, Jack was reading a book. 2

・When the phone rang, Jack was reading a book. 4

・Jack read a book when the phone was calling. 1

・Jack was reading a book when the phone ringing. 1

・When the phone called, Jack was reading books. 1

・ When the phone rang, Jack had read a book. 1

・Jack was reading a book when calling. 1

76

・When the bell rang, Jack was reading a book. 1

・When the telephone called,Jack was reading a book. 1

Table 6: 彼とはもう話さないつもりです。

Answer Number

・I decide I never talking to him. 1

・I’m not going to speak to him. 1

・ I won't talk to him anymore. 3

・I do not talk with him anymore. 1

・I will not talking with him. 1

・I am not going to speak to him anymore. 1

・I’m not going to him anymore. 1

・I’m not going to talk with him anymore. 2

・ I will never speak to him. 1

・ I won't talk with him. 1

・ I’m not going to talk with him. 1

・ I will never talk to him. 1

77

・I will not talk to him ever. 1

・ I’m not going talk to him anymore. 2

・I will not talk to him anymore at all. 1

・He will not talk with you. 1

Table 7: わかっているわ。明日買うつもりよ。 (以前から買うつもりだった)

わかったわ。明日買ってくるわ。 (今買う事を思いついた)

Answer Number

・I know. I’m going to buy it tomorrow. 7

・I understand. I'll buy it tomorrow. 4

・I know that. I’m going to buy it tomorrow. 1

・Alright. I'll buy it tomorrow. 2

・Ok. I'll buy it tomorrow. 4

・I know. I will buy it tomorrow. 3

・ I knew that. I am going to buy it tomorrow. 1

・ I knew that. I’ll buy it tomorrow. 1

・ I know. I’ll buy it tomorrow. 1

78

・OK. I'll buy it tomorrow. 1

・ I know. I’ll buy it tomorrow. 1

・Alright. I'll go to buy it tomorrow. 1

・ I know. I will buy it tomorrow. 1

Oh! ok. I'm going to buy it. 1

・I know. I’m planning to buy it tomorrow. 1

・OK. I'm going to buy it tomorrow. 1

・I know. I’ll buy it tomorrow. 1

・Okay, I'll buy it tomorrow. 1

・Yeah, I know. I’m going to buy it tomorrow. 1

・O.K. I'll buy it tomorrow. 1

・I know that. I’m going to buy it tomorrow. 1

・Okay, then I'll buy it tomorrow. 1

・Oh, I know. I’m going to buy this tomorrow. 1

・I know. I'll buy it tomorrow. 1

Table 8: トムはカギをなくしてしまった。（今、カギを持っていない。）

Answer Number79

・Tom has lost his key. 9

・Tom lost his key. 7

・ Tom lost key. 1

・Tom has lost a key. 1

・Tom lost the key. 1

・Tom has been losing his key. 1

Table 9: トムは昨日カギをなくした

Answer Number

・Tom lost his key yesterday. 17

・Tom lost a key yesterday. 1

・ Tom had lost the key yesterday. 1

・Tom has lost his key yesterday. 1

80

Table 10: トムはカギをなくしたが、見つけた。（今、カギを持っている。）

Answer Number

・Tom had lost his key, but he found. 1

・Tom lost his key, but he found it. 8

・Tom had lost his key, but he found it. 5

・Tom has lost his key, but he found. 1

・Tom lost his key, but he found. 1

・Tom has lost his key, but he found it. 1

・Tom lost his key, but now he has it. 1

・He lost his key, but now he found it. 1

Table 11: 私がパーティーに着いたとき、トムはもう家に帰っていました。

Answer Number

・When I arrived at the party, Tom had already gone his house. 1

・When I go to the party, Tom was going to back home. 1

・When I arrived at party, Tom had already gone back home. 1

・When I went to the party, Tom had went home. 1

・When I arrived the party, Tom already left his home. 1

81

・When I had arrived at the party, Tom already had gone. 1

・When I attended to the party, Tom went his home back

already. 1

・When I arrived at the party, Tom went home. 1

・When I arrived at the party, Tom already went home. 1

・ When I arrived at party, Tom has already gone his home. 1

・ When I arrived at party, Tom already go home. 1

・ When I arrived at the party, Tom has already came home. 1

・ When I arrived to the party, Tom already went home. 1

・ When I arrived at the party, Tom had already gone home. 1

・When I arrived at the party, Tom already went his home. 1

・Tom was back to his home when I arrived at the party. 1

・ When I go to the party, Tom had already gone to his home. 1

・When I arrived at the party, Tom had already been at home. 1

・ When I arrived at the party, Tom already had gone to his

home. 1

・When I got the party, Tom had already gone home. 1

82

Table 12:.窓がとても汚れている。掃除しなければいけないね。

Answer Number

・A window is really dirty, so we have to clean it. 1

・The window is very dirty. I have to clean it. 1

・The window is very dirty. We have to clean it. 2

・The windows are very dirty. We have to clean them. 1

・The window is really dirty. We need to clean it up. 1

・ The window is very dirty, so I have to clean up it. 1

・The window is so dirty, and I have to clean it. 1

・The window is very dirty, so we have to clean it up. 2

・The window is so dirty. I have to clean it. 2

・The window is very dirty. We need to clean it. 1

・The window is very dirty. I have to clean it. 1

・The window is dirty. I have to clean it. 1

・The window is so dirty. We need to clean it up. 1

・The window was very dirty. So we need to clean it. 1

・The window is very dirty, so we need to clean the window. 1

・ The window is very. We have to clean it up. 1

83

・The window is really dirty, so we should clean this. 1

Table 13: 心配しないで。バスはもうすぐ来るはずだから。

Answer Number

・Do not worry. A bus maybe come soon. 1

・Do not worry. The bus just will arrive. 1

・ Do not worry. The bus will come soon. 9

・ Do not worry. The bus is coming soon. 1

・ Do not worry. The bus must come to here. 1

・ Do not worry. Bus is coming. 1

・ Do not worry. The bus will come here soon. 1

・Do not worry. The bus will be coming soon. 1

・ Do not worry. The bus will come very soon. 1

・It’s okay. Bus will come soon. 1

・Do not worry. Bus will come soon. 1

・Do not worry. The bus will coming soon. 1

84

Table 14: ホットケーキを作ってくれない？

Answer Number

・Can you make a hotcake? 1

・Why do not you make hotcake? 1

・ I want you to make hotcake. 1

・Would you make the pancake? 1

・ Could you please make hotcake? 1

・Can you cook hotcake? 1

・Can you make a hotcake, please? 1

・Will you make pancakes? 1

・Would you make pancake for me? 1

・Can you make us a pancake? 1

・Can you make me a hotcake? 1

・Could you make some hotcakes to me? 1

・ Can you make some pancakes? 1

・ Could you make some pancakes? 1

・Could you make the hotcake? 1

・Could you make the hotcake to me? 1

85

・Please make hotcake for me. 1

・Can you make a pancake? 1

・Would you make pancakes for me? 1

・Please make hotcake. 1

Table 15: そのドアはカギがかかっている。

Answer Number

・The door is closed. 1

・The door is locked 15

・ The door is an open. 1

・ The door has locked. 1

・ This door. 1

・The door was locked. 1

Table 16: 彼の車は夜の間に盗まれた。

Answer Number

86

・His car was stolen during night. 3

・His car was steel during last night. 1

・He had his car stolen at the night. 11

・His car had stolen during night. 2

・His car was stolen at the night. 1

・His car is stolen at night. 1

・His car was stolen in the night. 1

・His car has stolen during the night. 2

・His car was stolen while a night. 1

・His key was stolen during the night. 1

・His car was stolen at night. 2

・His car was stolen last night. 1

・His car was stolen during the night. 3

Table 17: キャシーは、両親に NY に連れて行ってもらいたがっている。

Answer Number

・Cathy wants her parents to go NY. 1

87

・Cathy want her parents to go to NY. 2

・Cathy wants her parents to take her to NY. 4

・Cathy wants her parents to take her NY. 1

・Cathy wants her parents to go to NY 2

・Cathy wants to take to NY by parents. 1

・Cathy wants her parents to take to NY. 3

・Cathy would like her parents to take NY. 1

・Cathy wants to leave her parents to NY. 1

・Cathy wants her parents to bring her to NY. 1

・Cathy want to go to NY with her parents. 1

・Cathy wants to bring to NY by her parents. 1

・Cathy wants their parents to bring her to NY. 1

Table 18: 言語を習得するには長い時間がかかる。

Answer Number

・To learn a language takes a lot of time. 1

・It takes long time to learn language. 1

88

・It takes long time to master language. 1

・It takes long time to master languages. 1

・It takes long time to acquire the language. 1

・Learning language are take a lot of time. 1

・It takes a lot of time to acquire new languages. 1

・It takes too much time to master a language. 1

・It takes a long time to acquire a language. 1

・It spends long time to get a language. 1

・It takes long time to master the language. 1

・It takes a long time to master a language. 1

・It takes a long time to learn other languages. 1

・Learning the language takes a long time. 1

・It takes long time to get the language. 1

・It takes a long time to acquire languages. 1

・It takes so much time to master the language. 1

・It takes a long time to learn language. 1

・It takes so long time to acquire the language. 1

89

Table 19: その本を読んだことを忘れてしまった。

Answer Number

・I forgot to read the book. 4

・I forgot reading the book. 7

・I forgot that I read the book. 3

・I do not remember to read the book. 1

・I forgot about reading the book. 1

・I have forgotten that I have read the book 1

・I forgot whether I read the book or not. 1

・I forgot whether I read the book. 1

Table 20: 手紙を書くよりも電話をする方が簡単です。

Answer Number

・It is easy to call someone better than writing letters. 1

・Calling is more easier than writing letter. 1

・It is easier to call than to write a letter. 1

・It is easy to call rather than write letters. 1

90

・It is easy to call than writing letter. 1

・Writing letter is easier than calling. 1

・Calling is easier than writing a letter. 3

・It is easier to make a phone call rather than writing a

letter. 1

・I prefer to call a phone to write a letter. 1

・It is easier to call than writing a letter. 2

・It is much easier to talk on the phone rather than writing a

letter. 1

・Making a phone call is much easier than writing a letter. 1

・It is easy to calling more than writing the letter. 1

・Talking on the phone is easier than writing a letter. 2

・Calling is easier than writing a letter for me. 1

Tabe 21:トムはその三人の中で一番背が高い。

Answer Number

・Tom is the tallest of the three people. 1

91

・Tom is the tallest of three. 2

・Tom is the tallest of the three. 6

・Tom is the tallest among three. 1

・Tom is the tallest in the three boys. 1

・Tom is the tallest in three. 1

・Tom is the tallest among three people. 1

・Tom is the tallest among the three people. 1

・Tom is the most tall of the three. 1

・Tom is the tallest among the three. 1

・Tom is tallest than other three people. 1

・Tom is the tallest guys out of the three. 1

・Tom is the tallest in the three. 1

Table 22: テーブルの上にリンゴが一つと皿が 3 枚あります。

Answer Number

・There are one apple and three dishes and on the table. 2

・There is a apple and three dishes on the table. 1

92

・There are an apple and three plates on the table. 3

・There is an apple and three dishes. 1

・There are an apple and three dishes on the table. 6

・There an apple and three dishes. 1

・There is one apple and three dishes on the table. 1

・There is an apple and three plates on the table. 3

・There are three plates and a apple on the table. 1

・There’s an apple and three dishes on the table. 1

Table 23: 私たちが食事をしたレストランは地図には載っていません。

Answer Number

・The restaurant that we had 1

・There is not restaurant on the map we went. 1

・The restaurant where we had food is not on the map. 1

・The map doesn't have the restaurant we had lunch. 1

93

・There is no location in the map which we had a meal. 1

・I can't find the restaurant we have lunch in the map. 1

・The restaurant where we had dishes are not on the map. 1

・We can’t find the restaurant where we ate. 1

・The restaurant which we had dinner is not. 1

・The restaurant we had food is not on the map. 1

・There are not on the map that we were eating. 1

・The restaurant which we had meal is not on the map. 1

・The restaurant that we ate didn’t have a map. 1

・We can not find the restaurant where we had dinner on

the map. 1

・There's no restaurant which we went for dinner on the

map. 1

・The maps do not shows the restaurant where we went. 1

・The restaurant we went is not on the map. 1

・The map doesn't say the restaurant we had lunch. 1

・We can't find the restaurant that we had dinner on the

map. 1

・There’s no restaurant which we take a meal on the map. 1

94

Table 24: 家にいるときには、彼女は何でも好きな事が出来る。

Answer Number

・She can do anything what she likes when she stay at her

home. 1

・When her is in the home, she can do whatever. 1

・She can do whatever she wants to do when she is at

home. 1

・She can do anything during staying home. 1

・When she was in her house, she can do anything what

she likes. 1

・When she stay at home, she can do anything she like. 1

・When I am in my house, she does everything she likes. 1

・She can do anything which she likes at home. 1

・She can do anything which she like when she stay at

home. 1

・She can do anything she likes when she is at home. 1

・While she were in home, she can do whatever she wants. 1

・When she is at home, she can do whatever she likes. 1

95

・In the house, she can do whatever she wants. 1

・She can do whatever she wants when she is at home. 1

・When she was at home, she can do whatever she want. 1

・She can do anything when she are in her home. 1

・She can do anything she like when she is at home. 1

・When she is at home, she can do anything she wants. 1

・She can do whatever she wants while she is at home. 1

・She can do anything she wants to do during staying

home. 1

Table 25: 地図を持っていたら、私たちは道に迷うこともなかったのに。

Answer Number

・If we had a map, we didn't lost our way. 2

・If I had a map, we wouldn't get lost. 2

・If we had had a map, we wouldn't have got lost. 1

・If we had a map, we wouldn't got lost. 1

・If we had a map, we wouldn't lost the way. 2

96

・If I had a map, we wouldn't get lost our way. 1

・If we had a map, we wouldn't have gotten lost. 1

・If map, we wouldn't lost. 1

・If we had a map, we wouldn't have lost. 2

・If we had a map, we hadn’t lost. 1

・If we had a map, we wouldn't be lost. 1

・We may not get lost the way If we have maps. 1

・We shouldn’t get lost if we had a map. 1

・If I had had a map, we wouldn't have lost. 1

・If we had a map, we would not lost our way. 1

Table 26: ベンの電話番号を知っていればなあ。

Answer Number

・I wish I know Ben's phone number. 3

・If I knew Ben’s phone number. 1

・I wish I knew Ben's phone number. 4

・If I had Ben’s cell phone number. 1

97

・I wish I could know Ben's phone number. 1

・If map, we wouldn't lost. 1

・If I know Ben's phone number. 1

・If only I knew Ben's number. 2

・I wish I had Ben's phone number. 1

・I wish I had known Ben's phone number 1

・If we know the Ben's phone number. 1

・I wish I know Ben's tell phone number. 1

・I knew Ben's phone number. 1

・If I were Ben’s address. 1

Table 27: この映画はつまらない。全然アクションがないね（映画が私を退屈

さ せている）

Answer Number

・This movie is boring because actions are few. 1

・This movie was boring. There are not action scene. 1

・This movie makes me bored. It doesn't have action at all. 2

98

・The movie is boring. There's no action. 3

・This movie is really not interesting. There's no action

scene. 1

・The movie makes me boring. 1

・This movie is boring because there are no scene which

we get excited. 1

・This movie is boring. There is no action scene. 1

・The movie makes me bored. There’s no action. 1

・This movie was so boring. There are no action in it. 1

・This movie is boring. It doesn't have much actions. 1

・This movie sucks. There’s no action. 1

・This movie is so boring. There's no action at all. 1

・This movie is boring. There’re not action at all. 1

・This movie is boring. It doesn't have any action scene. 1

・This movie is boring. It doesn't have action at all. 1

・This movie is boring. It doesn't have action scene. 1

99

Table 28: つまらない。この映画、全然アクションがないね（私はこの映画に

よって退屈させられている。）

Answer Number

・Boring. This movie hasn't action. 1

・I’m bored. This movie do not have action scene. 1

・This movie makes me bored. It doesn't have action at all. 1

・I’m bored. There’s no action. 1

・Boring. This movie’s action scene is totally nothing. 1

・The movie makes me boring. This movie doesn't include

action scene. 1

・This movie is boring. This movie didn't make us excited. 1

・Boring. This movie makes me bored. 1

・It’s boring. This movie do not have any action. 1

・It’s boring. This movie does not have any action. 1

・Very boring. There are no action. 1

・I’m bored. In this movie, there are not much action. 1

・It sucks. This movie doesn’t have action in it. 1

・I got bored. This movie has no action at all. 1

100

・It's boring. This movie has no action at all. 1

・I'm boring by this movie because there is no action. 1

・This movie makes me bored because It doesn't have any

action scene. 1

・I'm so bored. This movie doesn't have action scene. 1

・I'm bored.This movie doesn’t have action scene.. 1

Table 29: その赤ちゃんは、今はあまり泣きませんが、以前は毎晩泣いていま

した。

Answer Number

・The baby used to cry everyday before, but now the baby do

not cry. 1

・The baby do not cry now, but she was crying 1

・The baby doesn't cry that much now, but she used to cry

every night. 1

・The baby doesn't cry so much now, but he used to cry

every night. 1

・The baby is not crying now, however previously she was 1

101

crying every night.

・The baby used to cry every night, but he or she doesn't cry

a lot. 1

・The baby doesn't cry so often these days, but she cried a

lot before. 1

・The baby isn’t crying now, but before the baby was crying

every night. 1

・The baby doesn't cry so much now, but she or he cried

every night before. 1

・The baby now doesn't cry so often, but before she cried

every night. 1

・That baby now she doesn't cry, but she was crying before. 1

・The baby is not crying lately, but she was crying more often

before. 1

・The baby is not crying now, but it was crying every night. 1

・The baby is not crying now, but she used to crying every

night. 1

・This baby is not crying right now, but before she used to cry

all the night. 1

・That baby were crying every night but now this baby do not 1

102

cry too much.

・The baby now hardly cry for now, but she or he used to cry

every night before. 1

・The baby doesn't usually cry now, but she was crying every

night before 1

・The baby doesn't cry so much now, but she cries every

night before. 1

・This baby does not cry nowadays, but she used to cry every

night. 1

Table 30: あなたは今何時か知っていますか？

Answer Number

・Do you know what time is it now? 9

・Do you know what time it is? 1

・Do you know what time is it? 1

・Do you know what time it is now? 4

・What time is it now? 1

・What time do you know is it now? 1

103

・Do you know what time is it right now? 3

104