A discussion of errors made in second-language learning focuses on the control that the speaker himself exerts over mistakes and argues that this would be a useful area for further research. Implications of such analysis for second-language instruction are considered. (MSE)

It is the premise of this study that the performance of black students in math and science is crippled by the interference of their language patterns. It is argued that schoolwork of these students demonstrates how nonstandard English can lead to misunderstanding. The connection between students' misunderstandings of certain quantitative relations…

A discussion of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teaching focuses on the relationship of lexical items to the syntactic situations in which they may occur, and the importance of teaching this relationship to language learners. First, common errors made by ESL students that are attributable to lack of syntactic context knowledge are identified.…

Inexperienced writers, including both basic writers and learning disabled, commit errors that often follow a discernible pattern due to applying erroneous or incomplete rules. Techniques for teaching editing skills are described, including textual analyses of students' writing, interviews with students, structuring the editing task, and providing…

Techniques for helping college-level non-native English speaking students understand the process of editing include individual and small-group conferencing, peer editing, and follow-up on errors. Teachers should give students the pencil, have them read the draft aloud, look for patterns of both good and erroneous usage, and focus on the positive.…

Offers suggestions for the college teacher with limited opportunity for individual writing conferences with non-native English-speaking students: tolerating some more complex errors; focusing on content; soliciting student ideas for correction; addressing only one or two error types; providing vocabulary choices; and highlighting correct usage.…