Analysis of Mandarin Syntactic Errors of Indonesian Learners at Elementary Level

Abstract

This research discusses Mandarin syntactic errors of Indonesian learners, performed at the elementary stage. It aims to categorize errors and identify them. The researchers follow Corder’s steps in error analysis. This paper considers four categories of errors: omission, addition, replacement, and disorder. Finally, the researchers seek to explain why the students commit such errors. The results of the data analysis show that most of the syntactic errors are classified as omission errors and disorder errors. These results indicate that the participants relied heavily on their native language to use the target language. Furthermore, their errors reveal that lack of Chinese grammatical knowledge and L1 interference may be significant reasons for their errors. To reduce syntactic errors for students at the elementary stage, teachers should pay more attention to comparing Mandarin and their native language and provide comprehensible input.