Grammatical difficulties in foreign language writing : the case of Maltese learners of French as target language

Abstract

This study attempts to describe Maltese learners’ foreign language (FL) grammatical difficulties within the context of the teaching and learning of the writing skill in French as a Foreign Language (FFL). An in-depth analysis is carried out of a corpus of 120 French essays provided by Year 10 and Year 11 students of FFL (fourteen to sixteen-year old learners) in six Maltese secondary schools. Grammatical errors in seven distinct grammatical categories are counted. Special emphasis is laid on the verb category, which appears to be the most problematic word class. Errors concerning verbs are divided into four further sub-categories according to their type: wrong conjugation, wrong tense, wrong mood, and absence of an obligatory verb. A descriptive analysis of these main difficulties illustrates learners’ most frequent errors. An interpretation is attempted of the possible sources of error: although learner motivation issues may partially account for the observed situation, a linguistic explanation can be provided through the fact that grammatical performance lies naturally within learners’ interlanguage (Selinker, 1972), based on a structurally intermediate status between the native and the target language. Within this interlanguage, the corpus includes errors seemingly caused by different processes: some patterns are borrowed from the L1, others are extended from the FL itself, and attempts at expressing meanings using already known words and grammar are observed. Questions are asked in relation with main themes concerning the teaching of grammar and writing, involving institutional constraints, the need to adopt improved teaching methods and teacher training, and the washback of the current examination system.