Abstract

Lexical errors are a determinant in gaining insight into vocabulary acquisition, vocabulary use and writing quality assessment. Lexical errors are very frequent in the written production of young EFL learners, but they decrease as learners gain proficiency. Misspellings are the most common category, but formal errors give way to semantic-based lexical errors as proficiency increases, likewise, the direct influence of the L1 also reduces in favour of more elaborated transfer mechanisms and L2 influence. The different categories of lexical errors indicate the stage of learning. This book uses a study of young EFL learners to suggest that lexical accuracy is a crucial component of writing assessment, and that lexical errors are useful in predicting writing quality.

María Pilar Agustín Llach is a lecturer at the Department of Modern Languages of the Universidad de La Rioja. Among her main research interests are the examination of vocabulary acquisition and teaching in the light of different variables such as age, gender, proficiency level, mother tongue influence, or learning context (CLIL vs. non-CLIL). Other vocabulary-related issues such as lexical errors, lexical transfer, and instruments used to measure vocabulary knowledge are included in her research.

This book provides a useful resource for students/researchers commencing work on L2 acquisition.

This book presents an inspiring study of lexical errors by second language learners. The volume will be particularly welcomed by experts and students in the fields of vocabulary acquisition and of young learners in instructed second language acquisition. It will also help EFL teachers to gain valuable understanding of students’ errors and insights for vocabulary teaching.

This book provides applied linguistics researchers as well as students and practitioners with an up-to-date, comprehensible account of the lexical errors produced in early writing by a large sample of young Spanish EFL learners. As far as I know there are no studies like the one contained in this book. Vocabulary research has hardly paid attention to lexical errors, let alone young EFL learners. This book is a valuable contribution to understanding more on how young EFL learners acquire and develop vocabulary in school contexts, as well as how lexical errors interrelate with learners’ lexical knowledge and quality of writing.