A proposal for the tagging of grammatical and pragmatic errors

Abstract

Errors should be viewed as a key feature of language learning and language use. In this paper, we focus on the identification and classification of errors that are related to students’ grammar acquisition and pragmatic competence. Our objectives are, first, to propose the tagging of grammatical errors and pragmatic errors according to the competences of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and, second, to determine where there is a correspondence between the different types of error. In order to meet these objectives, we designed a grid to tag the pragmatic errors produced by students with a B1 level of proficiency. It was based on the errors found in a corpus of written texts produced by undergraduate students at the Universitat Politècnica de València. Students wrote specific assignments based on the proposals specified in the CEFR for the development of pragmatic and grammatical competences. The texts were corrected and tagged manually by raters, who classified the errors using the grids and considered whether the errors were grammatical or pragmatic. Finally, the conclusions of our study were that some grammatical and pragmatic errors coincided and that this correspondence should be taken into account by language teachers.