What is a language error? A discussion

Maria Khachaturyan; Maria Kuteeva; Svetlana  Vetchinnikova; Gunnar Norrman; Dmitri Leontjev

doi:10.47862/apples.114746

What is a language error?

A discussion

Authors

Maria Khachaturyan Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
Maria Kuteeva Stockholm University & Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
Svetlana Vetchinnikova Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
Gunnar Norrman Stockholm University
Dmitri Leontjev University of Jyväskylä

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.114746

Keywords:

language normativity, language processing, language socialisation

Abstract

Why are we so afraid of making mistakes? Students in language classes, speakers of non-standard varieties, professionals working abroad – we all share the anxiety of dropping the ball. But where does this anxiety come from? Why do we perceive certain linguistic features as errors in the first place? Is there any inherent faultiness in such features, or is a language error arbitrary? And if it is arbitrary, are errors less real? In this discussion, Maria Khachaturyan, Maria Kuteeva and Svetlana Vetchinnikova zoom in on the social life of variation in language and its uneasy relationship with our normative ideas. After that, Gunnar Norrman and Dmitri Leontjev give their comments. The discussion closes with replies by the first three authors.

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 3 (2022): Special issue: Translingual and translocal perspectives on writing

Section

Conceptual discussion

Published

2022-12-12 — Updated on 2022-12-20

Versions

2022-12-20 (2)
2022-12-12 (1)

How to Cite

Khachaturyan, M., Kuteeva, M., Vetchinnikova, S., Norrman, G., & Leontjev, D. (2022). What is a language error? A discussion . Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies, 16(3), 102–127. https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.114746 (Original work published December 12, 2022)