An Analysis Survey of Chinese Nominal Classifier Errors: A Case Study of First-Year Students in the Faculty of Chinese Language at Thuongmai University

Abstract

Nominal classifiers pose a significant challenge for Vietnamese learners of Chinese. This paper presents the findings of a survey on Chinese nominal classifier errors based on a corpus of 200 essays written by 100 first-year Business Chinese majors at the Vietnam Thuongmai University. As a case study, the results specifically reflect this cohort rather than the entire student population of the faculty. Drawing upon Corder’s Error Analysis theory and Selinker’s Interlanguage theory, the study statistically categorizes the identified errors. Based on the data, the paper analyzes the underlying causes of these errors, including negative transfer from the Vietnamese language and overgeneralization of target-language rules. Finally, the study proposes several pedagogical recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning Chinese nominal classifiers at the elementary level.