An Investigation of Iranian EFL Learners' Lexical Errors in English L۲ Classes

Clarification of lexical error is an unavoidable process of foreign language vocabulary acquisition. Within lexical errors, the non-transfer errors dominate at all levels, however, the proportion of errors due to transfer is falling with increased proficiency. In addition to their important role in the study of language acquisition in general and second or foreign language acquisition, in particular, errors are also important in terms of different communicative tasks learners perform and the impacts their errors may have on communicating with native speakers of the target language. An understanding of the nature of lexical errors calls for the employment of a well-founded and comprehensive taxonomy which acknowledges the highly complex nature of the process of ESL/EFL students’ selection of words. The author in this paper tried to investigate the common lexical errors produced by EFL learners and will present recommendations to overcome this problem. From the authors' perspective, lexical errors in English L۲ classes made by students inspired them to examine the factors that make students commit lexical errors. The findings of the investigation will be used to develop remedial class activities for the benefit of EFL learners and help students use lexical items appropriately in their English L۲ classes.