Analysis of errors in the learning of Spanish by students whose mother tongue is Serbian

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse, classify and describe the most common errors committed by Serbian learners of Spanish. The analysis of errors that we intend to perform will show us the language used by Serbian students on different levels of education, i.e. their interlanguage. We will try to answer the following questions: is the development of the interlanguage different for students of different ages who learn Spanish or the common factors of their native language are predominate and independent of their age? How important is the influence of students’ cognitive development? What are the reasons for these errors? With this goal in mind, first we will offer an appropriate theoretical framework, and then we will conduct an investigation based on objective tests concerning specific grammar aspects, which, according to our experience as teachers of Spanish, can cause problems. With this research we try to offer a more complete picture of the mechanisms, difficulties and achievements of our students, given that there few studies that analyse the errors in the interlanguage of Serbian learners of Spanish on different levels of education.