Cognitive Approach to the Errors of Persian Speakers in Using Spanish Verb-governed Prepositions

This study examines the relation between the level of informant's interlanguage and the frequency of two types of errors: intralinguals and interlinguals. A cognitive- contrastive approach has been suggested as an eclectic model to analyze the frequency of errors of Persian-speaking students in using Spanish verb-governed prepositions. This study is considered as an applied study based on research objectives, and a correlation from the point of view of method. The population is from Alame Tabatabaie University undergraduate Spanish students. First 75 students were selected according to the cluster sampling method. Then 67 of students were reselected and divided into the following three levels of interlanguage: basic, intermediate, and advanced. The level of interlanguage was determined by the student's answers to the questionnaire. Using descriptive statistics, the study shows that the frequency of intralingual errors has a positive correlation with the level of the interlanguage, and the frequency of interlingual errors has a negative correlation with the level of interlanguage.