An Analysis of Errors Committed by Iranian Language Learners of Japanese language in the Usage of Passive Form in Japanese

One of the factors that hinder the process of second language acquisition is the linguistic errors. Indeed, making errors in the process of language learning is a normal and predictable matter. However, the importance lies in being aware of these errors and finding strategies to rectify them. Analyzing the error in order to find its sources is considered as one of the essential parts of language teaching. During the process of teaching the Japanese language, students with different levels of proficiency commit errors in the use of passive sentences. Considering the frequent use of passive sentences in the Japanese language, the correct usage of it is of high importance. As the first step of our study, an overview of the structures and properties of passive sentences in the Japanese language is carried out, followed by field research for an investigation into the most common errors made by Iranian language learners when using these sentences. The results of the research revealed that the language learned have committed two types of errors: Interlingual errors and intralingual errors. Examining intrerlingual errors revealed that the Persian language is the main cause of errors such as substituting objects for subjects, the omission of the doer of the action and errors in the use of syntactic structures due to overgeneralization of grammar rules between Persian and Japanese languages. Examples of intralingual errors include failure in differentiating between passive sentences and similar grammatical forms, misuse of postpositions and errors in the making of three-component part passive sentences.