This guide to ERRATA, a set of HyperCard-based tools for response analysis and error diagnosis in language testing, is intended as a user manual and general reference and designed to be used with the software (not included here). It has three parts. The first is a brief survey of computational techniques available for dealing with student test…

Studies in 1974 and 1984 of errors in the writing of Australian university freshmen in a history course found no significant differences between the two groups. The most salient elements in the error-prone writing were less related to writing mechanics than to constitution of meaning, suggesting that grammar instruction is inadequate to improve…

A study compared subjective and objective methods of evaluating college students' second-language communicative competence as expressed in their writing. (MSE)

The articles contained in this volume on second language writing evaluation focus on the evaluation of academic English learned as a second language (ESL). Essays include: "Assessment by Misconception: Cultural Influences and Intellectual Traditions" (Brigid Ballard, John Clanchy); "Reading the World Differently: A Cross-Cultural Approach to…