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The transfer of patterns from the native language is
undoubtedly one of the major sources of errors in learner language.
However, there are other causes for errors too, one of which is
overgeneralization of target-language rules. For example, research
has shown that second-language learners from different
first-language backgrounds often make the same kinds of errors
when learning a particular second language. In such cases,
second-language errors are evidence of the learners’ efforts to
discover the structure of the target language itself rather than
attempts to transfer patterns from their first language. Interestingly,
some of these errors are remarkably similar to the kinds of errors
made by first language learners.
These observations are a strong indication that second
language learning is not simply a process of putting
second-language words into first-language sentences. Research has
also shown that aspects of the second language which are different
from the first language will not necessarily be acquired later or with
more difficulty than those aspects which are similar.
On the other hand, when errors are caused by the
overextension of some partial similarity between the first and
second languages, these errors may be difficult to overcome. This
may be particularly problematic if learners are frequently in contact
with other learners who make the same errors.
Lightbown, P. & Spada, N. How languages are learned.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 165 (adapted).