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I've learnt that translation of "process" is in German "Verfahren". This word "process" can also be used in english as a verb like in "time processes while we are sleeping", at this point its equivalent "Verfahren" could be used as a verb like: "verfährt", or one can switch another alternative instead, for example with "vorkommen"?

Corder (1974) geht davon aus, dass beim Erwerb von L2 fünf Schritte in Fehleranalyseverfahren vorkommt.

This one was my translation of following english sentence.

Corder (1974) suggests five steps in Error Analysis(EA) process in second language (L2) acquisition.

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    shouldn't it be time proceeds while we are sleeping ? proceed = voranschreiten. Something could be processed = verarbeitet werden. The example sentence looks more like it contains process as a noun (and misses an article in the error analysis process).
    – Chieron
    Jun 29 '16 at 8:22
  • Yep. process looks like a noun to me as well here. And agree to the proceeds as well.
    – tofro
    Jun 29 '16 at 8:26
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    Later noticed that you maybe right "process is proceeding" these are different things. Did I need to edit my question, or it worth an answer again?
    – Dragut
    Jun 29 '16 at 8:30
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    If you ask me for a German equivalent to "process" : I would say "Arbeitsablauf" (in a firm, enterprise etc.). How something it done. Producing a certain product, shipping products, doing quality assurance measurements or whatever. And concerning a German word for "to process" ... That would be "verarbeiten".
    – mizech
    Jun 29 '16 at 10:23
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As pointed out in some comments to your question, I assume "process" is a noun in your original English sentence. Even though I have tried to add a verbal form to the examples. Some sound even better to me than the noun form.

There is absolutely nothing wrong in using the word Prozess in German for the English "process".

Corder(1974) geht davon aus, dass beim Erwerb von L2 fünf Schritte im Fehleranalyseprozess vorkommen.

Wouldn't really try and dare anything with "prozessieren" here. More used as a legal term (to sue so.) in German.

Verfahren is a very literal translation of "process" and can be used as well, but that relates more to an industrial or chemical process than a cognitive one. So, doesn't fit 100% in your example, IMHO. The verbal form verfahren could maybe be used:

Corder(1974) geht davon aus, dass beim Erwerb von L2 in fünf Schritten bei der Fehleranalyse verfahren wird.

Ablauf is another similar term that could be used (relates to anything that describes steps to get to somewhere):

Corder(1974) geht davon aus, dass beim Erwerb von L2 fünf Schritte im Ablauf der Fehleranalyse vorkommen

Corder(1974) geht davon aus, dass beim Erwerb von L2 die Fehleranalyse in fünf Schritten abläuft.

And, last, but not least, Verlauf could also be used:

Corder(1974) geht davon aus, dass beim Erwerb von L2 fünf Schritte im Verlauf der Fehleranalyse vorkommen.

Corder(1974) geht davon aus, dass beim Erwerb von L2 die Fehleranalyse in fünf Schritten verläuft.

[The bold one would be my favorite]

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  • Geophysicists talk about Datenprozessierung all the time, but I consider that a really awful anglicism.
    – leftaroundabout
    Jun 29 '16 at 13:41
  • Computer science and Biochem do the same. I consider this an unnecessary anglicism - or is it an allowed Latinism?
    – tofro
    Jun 29 '16 at 13:45
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    Well, it may originate from latin, but in actual usage it's simply a 1:1 adaption of data processing.
    – leftaroundabout
    Jun 29 '16 at 13:48
  • "prozessieren" ist im juristischen Kontext in Gebrauch. Ich halte nicht viel von Halbeindeutschung englischer Begriffe, insbesondere dann, wenn es durchaus valide deutsche Bezeichnungen gibt, z.B. "data processing - Datenverarbeitung". Und dann ist "Datenverarbeitung" auch noch um einen Buchstaben kürzer, als "Datenprozessierung" ;-)
    – user22338
    Jul 6 '16 at 9:45
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Corder(1974) suggests five steps in error analysis (EA) process in second language (L2) acquisition.

Corder(1974) suggests … not assumes

Error analysis (EA) process = Fehleranalyseprozess = Fehleranalyseverfahren

to suggest = empfehlen = anregen = vorschlagen

I would translate it to

Corder(1974) empfiehlt einen fünfstufigen Fehleranalyseprozess beim Erlernen von Zweitsprachen (L2).

or

Corder(1974) empfiehlt ein fünfstufiges Fehleranalyseverfahren beim Erlernen von Zweitsprachen (L2).

or

Corder(1974) empfiehlt ein Fehleranalyseverfahren in fünf Schritten beim Erlernen von Zweitsprachen (L2).

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  • Hi. You may notice I edited a few of your answers to turn the code markup into blockquote markup. Since this is not a site about code, monospaced code markup is typically a bad choice. It is often perceived as less appealing to the eye and non-monospaced font can be read better.
    – Jan
    Jun 29 '16 at 13:03
  • Could one also say: "Corder spricht von 5 Schritte[...]?
    – Dragut
    Jun 29 '16 at 13:41
  • @Jan you are perfectly right, i simply pushed the wrong button. Thanks for cleaning that mess :) [at]Dragut: yes you could say that, but grammar: "Corder spricht von 5 Schritten [...]"
    – user22338
    Jun 29 '16 at 14:19
  • @user22338: Since he wrote "Schritte[…]" without space, one might argue that the "n" in included in the omitted part. :-)
    – celtschk
    Jul 6 '16 at 9:06
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If I had to translate this sentence without more context, I would assume that "Error Analysis process" belongs together, which you translated perfectly to "Fehleranalyseverfahren". This means, that your "vorkommt" does not refer to "process", but to an implicit meaning of the quote. [Something like "Corder suggests, that there exist 5 steps ..."]

That being said, I would change the translation as follows:

Corder(1974) geht von 5 Schritten im Fehleranalyseverfahren beim Erlernen einer Zweitsprache aus.

If you want to keep the subordinate clause, I would propose the following translation:

Corder(1974) geht davon aus, dass 5 Schritte im Fehleranalyseverfahren beim Erlernen einer Zweitsprache vorkommen.

You can substitute "Zweitsprache" with "L2". As for the change in the verb of the subordinate clause: The verb refers to "5 Schritte", which is a plural, so you need to use "vorkommen" instead of "vorkommt".

Also note, that in German, you don't really "acquire" a language, you "learn" it. So the replacement of "Erwerb" with "Erlernen" is suggested.

I feel like my first translation would be more appropriate, because you don't really need an extra verb / subordinate clause to translate the sentence correctly.

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    Spracherwerb is indeed a common linguistic term and actually considered to be different to "eine Sprache erlernen" (passive vs. active acquisition)
    – tofro
    Jun 29 '16 at 11:54

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