An error analysis of the use of tense by Persian learners of French with the knowledge of English

Cross-linguistic interference is a major difficulty which Persian learners encounter in the process of foreign language learning. Addressing this interference and its negative impact at an earlier stage is both a challenge and target for the teacher. This study aims at analyzing the frequent errors made by Persian learners in different tenses in French. The analysis of the errors, the comparison of the speculations of the cause of errors, and the results of interviews with the learners showed that the learners made two kinds of errors: intralingual and interlingual. Intralingual errors occurred in generalizing the grammatical rules of le futur simple. The analysis of the interlingual errors revealed that learners’ first language (Farsi) was the main reason and the English language was the less important reason for errors in the usage of past tenses. Furthermore, learners’ first language (Farsi) turned out to be the only cause for errors when using present tenses.