Second langauge learners' output is very important for learners as well as teachers, because it is the best way to adjust input and teaching methods regarding learners' needs. Learners in informal learning environment (society) will go through 'silent period' before they start speaking. Learners in formal learning environment (classrooms) are not given time for silent period, but are forced to start communicating nearly from the beginning of a learning process. However, when a speaker is ready (or has to speak), an early stage of a speech develops. It is natural that this stage contains grammatical errors. If errors are corrected a speaker will improve and move to one stage above the current knowledge (i+1). In case no one corrects the learner, a fossilzation of errors occurs and the learner's knowledge does not improve.
Some linguists suggest that a speaker has a so called 'build-in syllabus', which can be determined through the study of errors. A learner uses a certain system of langauge at all stages of the learning process and the errors are evidence of his/her stage. These errors are called systematic errors, because they are the result of a systematic development of a certain language learning stage.
There is a sharp distinction between systematic and non-systematic errors. Non-systematic are errors that all make randomly in our speech (in L1 or L2) and of which we became immediately aware. Speakers themselves correct such errors - also called 'a slip of a tongue'. They normally occur under certain psychological and emotional conditions of speakres (tiredness, memory lapses, concetration,...). Systematic errors on the other hand are a consequence of learner's transitional competence or the current stage of his/her second language development. Non-systematic errors are thus errors of performance whereas systematic errors are errors of competence.
Systemic errors are important in three ways:
a) They are significant for a teacher, as they indicate the learner's learning stage and the learner's progress towards a learning goal.
b) They help researchers provide evidence of how language is learned.
c) They are very helpful to learners themselves for further learning: they can move to the next stage (i+1) only when systematic errors are corrected.
Systematic errors can be identified in a child's first language as well as in all learners of second language. Sometimes we cannot rely on correctly produced utterance, to be indisputable indicator of learners' competence, as the utterance can only be a product of a repetative behavior of a learner, therefore performance only without competence.
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