Interlanguage Errors Awareness in English as a Foreign Language and Arabic as a First Language in a Saudi Context

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Developmental errors in L2 Learning are a systemic necessity which is unfortunately interpreted as source of annoyance that could hinder the learning process by the learners. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the degree of awareness of L2 learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and Arabic as Second Language (ASL) of errors they make at comparable proficiencies in the two languages for two groups of students. It is argued that error awareness is commensurate of explicit correction by teachers in the foreign language context, which lacks daily use of the language in a natural context, whereas it is developed through daily practice of the language in both comprehension and production in a second language context. The second context provides acquisition like situations for the learners. The author also hypothesizes that there will be more awareness of errors and an auto-correction in an acquisition fashion in a second language context than in a foreign language one. This research will be quantitative and will use a questionnaire which will investigate the learners’ awareness through their opinions and attitudes through explicit introspection about the types of errors, their pervasiveness, and their place in the mind of the learners.