TABLES OF CONTENT Acknowledgement i Table of contents ii List of tables, charts and figures iii Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Rationale for the study 1.2 Scope of the study 10 1.3 Research Questions 10 1.4 Aims and objectives of the study 10 1.5 Structure of the thesis 11 Chapter Two: Literature review 12 2.1 Error Analysis 12 2.2 The notion of errors in language learning 13 2.3 Errors vs mistakes 13 2.4 Classification of Errors 14 2.5 Procedure of Error Analysis 16 2.6 Causes of Errors 16 2.6.1 Interlingual Errors and First Language Interference 16 2.6.2 Intralingual Errors and developmental Errors 18 2.7 The concepts of Prepositions 20 2.7.1 Syntactic characteristics of Prepositions 21 2.7.2 Semantic characteristics of Prepositions 22 2.8 The Spatial Prepositions “AT, ON, IN” 23 2.8.1 Usage of AT 26 2.8.2 Usage of IN 27 2.8.3 “AT and IN” in comparison 28 2.8.4 Usage of ON 30 2.8.5 “IN and ON” in comparison 30 2.9 “AT, ON, IN” as temporal prepositions 33 2.10 Spatial and Temporal Prepositions in Vietnamese 36 2.10.1 Spatial Prepositions 36 2.10.2 Temporal Prepositions 40 Chapter Three: Research Methodology 42 3.1 Participants 42 3.2 Instruments of data collection 42 3.3 Methodology of Data analysis 43 Chapter Four: Findings and Discussion 46 4.1 Errors related to the use of spatial prepositions 46 4.1.1 Analysis of Data 46 4.1.2 Analysis of Errors 48 4.1.2.1 Interlingual Errors and First language Interference 48 4.1.2.2 Intralingual and Developmental Errors 51 4.2 Errors related to the use of Temporal Prepositions 53 4.2.1 Analysis of Data 53 4.2.2 Analysis of Errors 55 Chapter Five: Conclusion 58 References 73 Appendices I Appendix I Appendix III Appendix V LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES ABBREVIATIONS Table 2.1 Usage of AT and IN in comparison Table 2.2 Usage of IN and ON in comparison Table 2.3 Usage of temporal AT-IN - ON in comparison Table 2.4 Some expressions of temporal AT Table 4.1 Results of multiple-choice Table 4.2 Results of cloze-exercise Table 4.3 Results of picture description Table 4.4 Errors related to the use of Spatial Prepositions Their frequency, sources and percent Table 4.5 Results of Multiple choice Table 4.6 Results of Sentence building Table 4.7 Errors related to the use of temporal Prepositions Their frequency, sources and percent Figure 2.1 * : ERRORNEOUS SENTENCE X : no preposition LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: Test Appendix 2: Test Appendix 3: Drawings and Pictures (to teach the meanings and usage of prepositions “AT, ON, IN”) Chapter one Introduction 1.1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY The center for Languages and Informatics – Vinh City is an address for learners at different ages that have need of learning English We offer them general English courses along with the book New Headway Elementary 3rd Edition which provides a foundation in the structure of the language, gradually builds student’s understanding of the basic grammar, vocabulary and functions of English We observe that the elementary-level students meet a lot of difficulties in learning grammar In particular, preposition usage is one of the most challenging aspects of English grammar During the courses, we have detected common errors in using the prepositions AT, ON, IN It seems that these errors occur frequently and systematically They are exemplified as follow: (1) IN is used in contexts where ON and AT are required (>50%) * in TV (on) * in this time (at) * in a sunny morning (on) * in the farm (on) * students in Vinh University (at) (2) ON is used in contexts where IN/ AT is required (> 70%) * on many ways (in) * on that place (in) * going on cars (in) * on the sky / mountain / the world (in) (3) AT is used in contexts where IN /ON is required (> 60%) * at the evening (in) * at the first of March (on) (4) AT, ON, IN are used in contexts where no prepositions are required ( > 55%) * on last Tuesday (X) * in next spring (X) * in tomorrow morning (X) * go at home (X) Whether the errors in using prepositions of place “AT, ON, IN” are due to the interference of Vietnamese or the non-framed rules of the English prepositions? The study may not be innovative, though, we hope our findings would help to improve the quality of learning and teaching of prepositions “AT, ON, IN” at our center 1.2 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study mainly deals with three prepositions “AT, ON, IN” of time and place The survey is carried out at Language and Informatics Center-Vinh City 1.3 OBJECTIVES The objectives of the thesis are: - Identifying the errors in using the prepositions of place and time: “AT, ON, IN” by Vietnamese learners at our English center - Finding the causes of their errors - Proposing pedagogic solutions for the teaching and learning of the prepositions “AT, ON, IN” at our English center 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS: The above mentioned objectives can be elaborated into the following research questions: What errors elementary learners are likely to make in using the prepositions “AT, ON, IN”? What are the possible causes of the errors? What are the possible solutions to students’ errors related to the use of “AT, ON, IN” as prepositions of place and time? 1.5 THESIS STRUCTURE The thesis consists of five main chapters as follows: - Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION In this introductory part, the rationale of the study is presented The aims, scopes of the study are then identified - Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides an in-depth review of the relevant literature related to the issue under investigation A review of English prepositions “AT, ON, IN” provides the theoretical background for the recognition of the errors that students are likely to make Error Analysis as the main theoretical tool for analyzing data will also be reviewed - Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the main principles and techniques for conducting the research - Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION This chapter is spared for the presentation of major findings and proposal of possible solutions to students’ errors related to the uses of “AT, ON, IN” as place and time prepositions - Chapter 5: CONCLUSION The chapter will present recapitulation, conclusions on each of the objectives set forth as tasks assigned to the study, implications for teaching and the recommendation for further research CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 ERROR ANALYSIS Error Analysis is the study and analysis of errors made by the second and foreign language learners (Richards et.al, 1985:96) In a definition by Brown (1980:166), error analysis is the process to observe, analyze, and classify the deviations of the rules of the second language and then to reveal the system operated by learner Crystal (1987:112) shared the same view point that error analysis is a technique for identifying, classifying and systematically interpreting the unacceptable forms produced by someone learning a foreign language, using any principles and procedures provided by linguistics Error analysis may be carried out in order to (1) find out strategies which learners use in learning a language, (2) find out the causes of learner errors and (3) obtain information on common difficulties in language learning, as an aid in teaching or in the preparation of teaching materials Error analysis was claimed to be used as a primary pedagogical tool because of three arguments: (1)Error Analysis not only restrict to errors caused by interlingual transfer, it also brings to light many other types of errors such as intralanguage errors and some arising from the particular teaching and learning strategy employed (2) Error Analysis provides data on actual, attested problems and therefore forms a more efficient and economical basis for designing pedagogical strategies (3) Error analysis is not confronted with the complex theoretical problems (Richards 1975:17) According to Corder (1971b: 154 & 166), the learner’s errors are evidence of the system, and the investigation of the language of second language learners would rely heavily on Error Analysis 2.2 THE NOTION OF ERRORS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING There is a variety of definitions of errors According to Norrish (1987:7), error is a systematic deviation, when a learner has not learnt something and consistently gets it wrong” Cunningworth (1987:87) states the same view point as errors are systematic deviations from the norms of the language being learnt Dulay et Al (1982: 138) states that errors are understood as the flawed side of learners’ speech and writing, those parts of conversation or composition that deviate from some selected norms The above definitions have a common idea that errors are deviations from the norm of the target language The norm is understood as the standard form of the language used by native speakers In the context of the study, utterances which are deviant from the standard form will be considered errors even though they not affect intelligibility or communication Like the child struggling to acquire his language, the second language learner is also trying out successive hypotheses about the nature of the target language, therefore, the learner’s errors (or hypotheses) are not only inevitable but are a necessary part of the language learning process (Richards et al , 1974:17) Corder (1967:167) noted that errors could be significant in three ways: (1) they provided the teacher with information about how much the learner had learnt; (2) they provided the researcher with evidence of how language was learnt; (3) they served as devices by which the learner discovered the rules of the target language 2.3 ERRORS VS MISTAKES Corder (1967:167) makes a distinction between “errors” which are systematic deviations from the target language revealing the learner’s transitional competence and “mistakes”, which are the product of chance circumstances or failure of performance owing to lapses of memory, inattention, fatigue, etcetera, and as such are unsystematic Ellis (1997:17) expresses the same view: “errors reflect gaps in a learner’s knowledge, they occur because the learner does not know what is correct; mistakes reflect occasional lapses in performance, when the learner is unable to perform what he or she does know” The term “error “refers to some idiosyncratic or “un-nativelike” piece of language produced regularly and systematically by a number of learners This means only learners of a foreign language commit errors “Mistake” refers to occasional actions which are not systematic Native speakers as well as foreign language learners may make mistakes Corder (1967:167) insisted that mistakes are of no significance to the language learning process, mistakes can readily be corrected by the learner when his attention is drawn to them On the contrary, errors are significant to the process of language learning (Corder 1967:167) Errors cannot be self-corrected until further relevant input has been provided and converted into intake by the learner (C James 1998:83) To distinguish between an error and a mistake, Ellis (1997:17) suggest two ways The first one is to check the consistency of learner’s performance If he sometimes uses the correct form and sometimes the wrong one, it is a mistake However, if he always uses it incorrectly, it is then an error The second way is to ask learner to correct his deviant utterance himself Where he can, they are mistakes; where he cannot, they are errors From the above-mentioned definitions, it can be concluded that mistakes are non systematic deviations from the norms of the language; therefore they are of no interest to the Error Analysis The objects of Error Analysis are Errors 2.4 CLASSIFICATION OF ERRORS Richards et al (1974:17) believed that both children learning the first language, and children and adults learning foreign languages likely to produce errors of following types: i) The omission of grammatical morphemes; ii) The double marking of a given semantic feature; iii) The over generalized application of irregular rules; iv) The use of one form for several required; v) The wrong word ordering 10 Errors related to the use of prepositions of time don’t take large portion, since they are less polysemous and simpler, so that the students can master them better 5.2.2 Concluding remarks on objective (Finding the causes of their errors) It was found that the errors made by the subjects were caused by two main factors: interference from Vietnamese and other learning problems Due to the differences in cognitive concepts between Vietnamese and English, the learner interfere what they think and conceptualize in Vietnamese to English usage of prepositions What’s more, the stable temporal expressions from generations to generations in Vietnam also influence on the selection of prepositions used by learners Due to the polysemic meaning of prepositions, the learners get confused with the use of AT and IN , IN and ON since they are relatively similar to each other 5.2.3 Concluding remarks on objective (Proposing pedagogic solutions for the teaching and learning of the prepositions “AT, ON, IN”) (i) Techniques: a Using visuals According to Adrian Doff (1989:82), showing visuals focuses attention on meaning and helps to make the language used in the class more real and alive and keep the students’ attention and interest  Real Objects: • Teacher can use a box and objects such as keys, book, pen, etc to illustrate the meaning of AT, ON, IN as “the keys are in the box”, “the pen is on the book”, “the box is on the table”, “the chair is at the table”… • Teacher can make use of any thing in the classroom, even the teacher herself to illustrate meaning and usage of the prepositions “AT, ON, IN” 53 o For IN: Put something in your hand and grasp it “a key is on my hand” o For ON: Hold one hand palm upwards, put something on it and say “a chalk is on my hand” o For AT: Stand next to a chair, table or desk and point down at the desk  Drawings: teacher doesn’t have to translate the meaning of these prepositions A very simple way is to draw on the board and students will easily remember (see Appendix 3)  Maps Bring in a map of the world, students’ country, city … Ask students questions that begin with “WHERE…” such as: • Where is the Nile? • Where is the Great Wall? • Where does the Beatles live? • Where is Hanoi? Teacher can explain more thoroughly the use of AT, ON, IN with their idiomatic expressions like “in the north/ west/ south/ east”, “at Vinh (as a point in a journey)”, “on the map” etc  Pictures: (See appendix 3) The pictures help teacher to illustrate the meaning and the use of the prepositions efficiently and moreover, they help students to memorize better The following pictures will have an amazing effect! b Using a matrix and games (with miming) (Celce-Murcia & Larsen Freeman, 1999) c Using metal language: Teach general ideas about how English speakers conceptualized spatial and temporal relations (Radden and Dirven, 2007) 54 d Using Posteriori explanations: Basing on Student’s types of errors, teacher can help them realize the source of errors and explicitly explain the problems For example: e Using prepositions in context: It is more efficient to relate the prepositions in the context rather than teach them separately When the prepositions are put in the context, their meanings are clarified and easy to be remembered (ii) Activities for practice: a Drawing Dictations (http:fds.oup.com / www.oup.com/pdf/elt/products/winttdictations.pdf) b Listen and draw: Tell students to draw items in particular places on an existing background For example: Draw a dog in the street Draw a policeman at the car Draw a cat on the car c Listen and color: Give students a picture that has been colored Ask them to color the picture For example: The blue book is on the table The red book is in the drawer d Describing pictures verbally: Give Students a handout with pictures/drawings; ask them to write sentences to describe spatial relationships of the entities in it e Detecting errors while listening: Give Students a handout with pictures/drawings, teacher reads a text describing a scene that has some different details than those in the pictures Students are to re-position the objects according to the text f Total Physical response: 55 These activities allow the learners to experience and compare the different spatial notions while being exposed to the linguistic forms in which they are expressed The teacher illustrates physical actions that involve AT, IN, ON-relations in the classroom and ask the students to carry them out Simple instructions such as “put your bag/pen/book/hand on the table” “sit on the floor/chair”’ or “crawl on the floor”, “put your book in your bag”, “put something in a box or in your pocket”, “take your pen in your hand”, “ balance a piece of paper on your head”, “put your finger at your nose/left eye/mouth/right ear ” “Work in pairs/groups of three/four”, etc The contrast between IN and ON relations can be pointed out to the student by contrasting actions such as “put your hand on your head” with “put your hand in your pocket.” Again, the contrast between AT and IN can be illustrated by actions like “Put your finger in your mouth”, “put your finger at your mouth”, or “stand at the door”, “stand in the classroom”, etc g Questionnaire: Teacher gives students a questionnaire and asks them to answer, using AT, IN, ON When you get up? _ When you start/finish work? _ What days don’t you go to work? _ When you get paid? _ When you have your holidays? _ When you go out with your friends? _ When you have to housework? _ … h Quiz: 56 It can be very funny! Students have chance to check your general knowledge as well as practice the prepositions AT, ON, IN It can make student excited and motivated For example: When did the first man walk on the moon? When’s Christmas Day? When’s Valentine’s Day? When’s American Independence Day? Where were the 2008 Olympic Games held? Where is Mount Everest? Where the Tennis Championships take place? i Songs: Many pop songs include prepositions of place and time can be used for gap - filling to test this grammar point g Traditional Exercises: - Sample Exercise: Complete the sentences with the prepositions of place “At, On, In” Are your children …………… their grandmother's house? She likes walking …………… the rain with her little cat The book you are looking for is ………… the top shelf Did you read the news ……………… today's paper? Come and sit ………………….the table, it is time to eat I live in that building ………………… the sixth floor Will you drop me my house on your way home? I left my bag ………………… the bus coming home from school Betty used to swim …………………… the sea and to sunbathe ………… the sand 57 10 I am staying ……………… the Royal Hotel It's ……………… Kings Road …………………… Brighton 11 Would you like to go to the cinema tonight? - No, thanks I was ……………… the cinema yesterday 12 We are going ……………… holiday next week 13 …………… my wall, there are many picture postcards 14 Who is the person ……………this picture? 15 Don't put all your eggs ……… one basket 16 Eric is studying ………… the university 17 I live ………… 12 Columbus Street 18 Is John still ……………… bed? 19 I've read it …………… a book 20 James met us …………… the door 21 Janet is ………… home right now 22 I was stuck ………… that traffic jam for hours! 23 She fell asleep …………… the armchair 24 Let's take the bus …………… Columbus Street 25 There were no clouds ………… the sky 26 Megan will be ………… the office from nine to four 27 There will be many new people ………… the party 28 Kelly took us for a ride ………… her new car 29 She stood ………… the center of the stage 30 There is always lots of action ………… Times Square 31 The diagram is …………… page 12 32 The dinner will be ………… Mark's 33-34 We have DSL Internet access …………… work, but I don't have a high-speed connection ………………home 35-36 The kids are learning about the Civil War ……………their history class ………….school 58 37-38 Toby was …………… the hospital for two weeks after his motorcycle accident…………… the freeway 39-40 Jane and Debbie saw dolphins ………….the ocean while they were having a picnic ………………the beach 41-42 Fred loves to go camping ……… the desert, but Kyle prefers to camp ………… the mountains 43-45 The conference was held …………… a ski resort ………… Telluride, a small town …………… southwest Colorado 46-47 You can buy stamps …………… the post office ………… Delancy Street 48-49 The old man who was standing …………… the corner yelled at the kids who were playing ………………the street 50-51 While they were hiking ………… Ridgeback Mountain, Laurelle and Frank saw a bear …………… the woods 52-53 You can buy your rail passes ………… the ticket counter …………… any train station ………… the country 54-55 The brown bears found ………… Kodiak Island are the largest ………… the world 56-57 There is no life ……… the moon, but there are many forms of life ………… the ocean floor 58-59 Nathan was able to exchange money ……… the exchange counter ………… the airport 60-61 While Dave was …………….the top of the Eiffel Tower, he could see several tourist boats ……………… the Seine, the river that runs through Paris 62-64 I stood …………… line for thirty minutes ………… the ticket window ………… the movie theater to get tickets for the film 65-68 Mike was sitting ………… his desk ………… his office ………… work when Bill called; Bill was …………… Asia on business 69-70 Tom’s father was ……… the prison to see him who had been ……… prison for 20 years - Prepositions of time “At, On, In” 59 A) Write the preposition of time for the following If a preposition isn’t used, put X …… Monday …… yesterday ……the morning ……three o’clock …… next year ……midnight …… our anniversary …… last summer …… summer 10 ……… March 11 …….noon 12 …….Christmas 13 …….the 12th century 14 …… the 12th of April 15 …… tomorrow 16 ………11 AM 17 …… night 18 ………the moment 19 …… 1994 20 …… the weekend 21 …… the evening 22 …….every day 23 …… New Year’s eve 24 …… September 25 ………next year 26 …… Tuesday night 27 ……… last month 28 ……….dawn 29 ………autumn 30 ………October 26 B) Choose a correct prepositions to complete the sentences: 1-3 Jane is arriving ………… January 26………… o'clock ………… the afternoon 4-5 It snows here every year ………… December We always go outside and play in the snow ………… Christmas day 6-7 Michael is leaving …………… Friday ………… noon Frankie started working for her law firm ……………… 1995 Franklin began working on the project ……………… yesterday 10-11 Normally, …………… New Year's Eve, it's tradition to kiss the one you love …………… midnight 12-13 Don't be ridiculous; there were no telephones ………… the seventeenth century! The telephone was invented ………… the 1870s 14-15 The plane leaves ………… tomorrow morning …………… 8:00 AM 16 The hills here are covered with wildflowers ………… early spring 17-18 She always gets up early ………… the morning, so she can make it to class ………… time 19 I was sick, so I didn't go to work ………… last Thursday 20 Just wait a second, I'll be there …………… a minute 21 Barbara is going to start her new job ………… next September 60 22-23 The professor said …………… the first day of the course that there would be a big final test ……………… the end of the semester 24 Mary likes to go to the seaside …… summer 25 We are going to the picnic …… the weekend 26 His brother is going to get married ……… the age of 25 27 They are busy ……… the moment 28 Olga and Nick arrived ……… the same time C) Choose the correct answer for each sentence _ my wife’s birthday, I always bake her a cake and give her a piece of jewelry A on B in C at D no prepositions Cinderella’s carriage changed into a pumpkin _ midnight A on B in C at D no prepositions Which should we _ tonight: go to a concert or see a movie? A on B in C at D no prepositions We can move to a house _ two months, but only if we can rent the apartment first A on B in C at D no prepositions Typically _ Christmas, we visit my grandparents in the country A on B in C at D no prepositions I left work ten o'clock last night A on B in C at D no prepositions I saw Bob in the street yesterday A on B in C at D no prepositions I phoned her up and spoke to her Wednesday morning A on B in C at D no prepositions I last saw him the beginning of September A on B in C at D no prepositions 10 We bought the company Thursday, 22 May A on B in C at D no prepositions 11 I spoke to her three weeks ago A on B in C at D no prepositions 12 They were very popular the middle of the 19th Century A on B in C at D no prepositions 13 I was in a meeting all day yesterday A on B in C at D no prepositions 14 I met him January of last year A on B in C at D no prepositions 15 I knew Chris Smith quite well when I was at university 61 A on B in C at D no prepositions D) Write sentences using a preposition of time and the following words: (Possible Answers ) 1999: I graduated from university in 1999 o’clock: My alarm went off at o’clock 18th century: Life was a lot more difficult in the 18th century Tomorrow morning: I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning Next Month: We’re going on vacation next month Winter: She loves to go skiing in winter 2918: Humans will probably be living on other planets in 2918 Saturday night: Fred’s birthday party is on Saturday night Ten minutes: Hurry up! We have to leave in ten minutes 10 Half an hour: The flight arrives in half an hour 5.3 Suggestions for further research (i) The researcher will investigate in-depth the usage of the prepositions AT, ON, IN with their idiomatic and metaphoric expressions (ii) The instruments for data collection will extend to writing composition (iii) The subjects of the study will be intermediate-level students 62 REFERENCES VIETNAMESE Lưu Trọng Tuấn (2011), “Exploring Metaphors in Vietnamese prepositions and Adverbial Particles” Theory and practice in Language Studies, Vol.1, No 5, pp.460465, May 2011 Tien Tran (2009), “Unveiling the sources of errors in the use of English spatial Prepositions” (SFSU M.A TESOL Conference) Trần Quang Hải (2010), “Những khác biệt sử dụng giới từ định vị quan hệ không gian tiếng Anh tiếng Việt” Tạp chí khoa học cơng nghệ, Đại học Đà Nẵng, số (40), 2010 Võ Đại Quang (2006), Issues of Applied Linguistics Hanoi: The National University Press ENGLISH 1) Brown, H D (2000) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching New York: Pearson Longman 2) Choon, T.G (1993) “Error Analysis and Correction of Written Work in the Classroom.” The English Teacher Vol XXII Oct 1993 3) Close, R.A (1977) A reference Grammar for Students of English London: Longman 4) Corder, S.P (1967) The significance of learners’ errors Oxford: Oxford University Press 5) Corder, S.P (1973) Introducing Applied Linguistics Middlesex, Penguin 6) Crystal, D (1987) Error Analysis and Interlanguage Oxford: Oxford University Press 7) Cunningsworth, A (1987) Evaluation and Selecting EFL Teaching Materials London: Heinemann Education Book 8) Cyuckens, H (2002) Perspectives on Prepositions Max Niemeyer Verlag 9) Doff, A (1989) Teach English Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 63 10) Wibbelt, C.Z (Editor) (1993) The Semantics of Prepositions: from Mental processing to natural language Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG 11) Dulay, H C et al (1982) Language Two Oxford: Oxford University Press 12) Ellis, R (1997) Second Language Acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press 13) James, C (1998) Errors in Language Learning and Use: Exploring Error Analysis London: Longman 14) Lado, R (1957) Linguistic across Cultures Michigan: University of Michigan Press 15) Langacker, R.W (1987) Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, vol.1, Theoretical Prerequisites California: Stanford University Press 16) Langacker, R.W (1990) Concept, Image and Symbol The Cognitive Basic of Grammar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG 17) Norrish, J (1987) Language Learning and their Errors London: Macmillan Publisher Ltm 18) Oller, J.W (1973) Focus on the learner: pragmatic perspectives for the language teacher Newbury House Publisher 19) Pizier, P.S (2006) Syntax and Semantics of Prepositions Berlin: Springer Press 20) Pyle, A M & Munoz, M.E (1995) Cliffs TOEFL: Preparation Guide New Delhi: Wiley India Pvt Ltd 21) Radden, G & Dirven, R (2007) Cognitive English Grammar Philadelphia: John Benjamins Company 22) Richards, J C (1974) Error Analysis: Perspective on second language Acquisition London: Longman 23) Richards, J C (1971) A Non-contrastive Approach to Error Analysis English Language Teaching Vol 25 No Oxford: Oxford University Press 24) Richards, J C et al (1992) Dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics Essex, Longman 64 25) Quirk, R., and S Greenbaum (1976) A University Grammar of English London: Longman 26) http// www englishclub.com 27) http// www.fds.oup.com / www.oup.com/pdf/elt/products/winttdictations.pdf 28) http// www englishpage.com/prepositions/location_prepositions_1.htm 29) http // www edition.tefl.net 30) http // www englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=1984 31) http // www a4esl.org/q/j/ni/fb-prepositions.html 32) http:// www tolearnenglish.com/cgi2/myexam/print.php?monsite=tle 65 ... carried out at Language and Informatics Center- Vinh City 1.3 OBJECTIVES The objectives of the thesis are: - Identifying the errors in using the prepositions of place and time: ? ?AT, ON, IN? ?? by Vietnamese... at the top of the page / of + N 24 at the end of the road at the corner of the street in the corner of the room at the front / at the back of a building, hall, group of people In the front / the. .. that ? ?errors are 12 originated in the learners’ disposition to transfer forms and meanings, and the distribution of forms and meanings of their native language and culture to the foreign language