AN ERROR IN ERROR ANALYSIS<sup>1</sup>

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<jats:p>Presently, a number of proponents of an error analysis approach to the investigation of 2nd language learning argue that contrastive analysis (CA) <jats:italic>apriori</jats:italic> is inadequate as an account of target language learning problems. They claim that the only tenable version of CA is an <jats:italic>aposteriori</jats:italic> approach, i.e. CA in just those areas that have been proven by error analysis to be difficulties in production. This claim is disputed in a study involving the acquisition of English relative clauses by speakers of Persian, Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese. The <jats:italic>aposteriori</jats:italic> approach obscured the fact that the Chinese and Japanese learners have more difficulty with relative clauses and therefore avoid them, a fact predicted by the <jats:italic>apriori</jats:italic> approach.</jats:p>

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