a joke about two pere ubuists

[Abdiel OAbdiel]

--- Cyrus <cyrusgeo at netscape.net> wrote:
> >
> Well, being Greek, and having been to Korea, I know
> what you're talking  about. However, such "mistakes"
are usually taken as an indication that 
> the individual making them hasn't learned English
> very well. 

It would be a mistake to assume that these kinds of
"errors" indicate that the learner has not learned
English very well.   In fact, if we give an exam (oral
and written) to native speakers and L2 speakers that
tests their knowledge of the SAE and the prescriptive
grammar rules that apply to the use of "the" before
nouns L2 speakers will score higher than L1 speakers.
Again, generally, L2 learners have more theoretical
knowledge. And here is the wammy. If we assesses their
ability to apply the theory by giving them an exam
they will also score higher than many L1 speakers.
Yet, in the street, they will make "errors." 

What the hell is going on? 

One clue is that L1 and L2 children without any
theoretical knowledge may score lower on both tests,
but will make fewer errors in the street. 

Is L1 getting in the way? 
Or are there some deeper influences to consider? 

Another point. L2 speakers, while they struggle to
stop making these errors can't. They can't seem to
recognize that they are making a mistake until it's
too late. But if a Native speaker makes the same
mistake, the L2 speaker will almost always recognize
it as such. 






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