Verb form error detection in written English of Chinese EFL learners

In the past few decades, researchers have paid increasing attention to automatic error detection in natural languages, but few have focused on developing an error-checking tool for EFL learners in China. Based on the theory of Pattern Grammar, this study formalizes verb patterns through Link Grammar, a formal grammatical system developed by Sleator and Temperley (1991), and reconstructs an Link Grammar verb dictionary to create an automatic checking tool for verb form errors in Chinese learners’ written English. The test results show that by importing more detailed pattern information of verbs in the Link Grammar dictionary, the Link Grammar parser can identify verb form errors more accurately and effectively than the original and the parsing capability of the Link Grammar parser is improved. The article shows that Pattern Grammar and Link Grammar can work together and be applied to the construction of error-checking tools for EFL learners with promising results.