Discusses two intriguing ways of explaining error in student writing--the work of Michel Foucault and the work of Roland Barthes. Describes in-class activities and essay assignments that use these perspectives to help students to reach improved understanding of error in writing. (SR)

Describes a game in which students are rewarded for catching a certain number of mistakes made by their teacher in a semester. Discusses the larger underlying principles that are worth independent consideration. (Author/MM)

Describes an exercise in which students demonstrate what they have learned by working in groups to find incorrect grammar in newspaper writing. (SR)

Since students enter college with a basic knowledge of the mechanics of writing, including grammar, spelling, and punctuation, most student writing mistakes amount to a failure to see what they have actually written. Thus, instructors must help students to apply knowledge they already have and to see their own errors through careful proofreading.…

Introduces the Mass Media Mistake, an exercise in which students engage in a healthy skepticism of chemistry in the printed world, rewrite the example correctly, and discuss the consequences of the original error on the unsuspecting reader. (Contains 13 references.) (ASK)

Examines how style analyzers operate and offers advice on using textual analysis software in business writing courses. (PRA)

Techniques for teachers to use in asking questions and encouraging critical thinking in the classroom are offered. Discussion includes components of an effective question and methods for getting students interested, promoting success, and providing useful feedback. (MSE)

Explains that trial and error learning is an important way for children and adults to learn. Open-ended activities have great opportunities for error and eventual feedback for error reduction. (PR)

Honest errors appearing in textbooks, articles, and instructor-generated assignments are used as meaningful vehicles of instruction. Missing information, corrected printing errors, deliberate errors, and difficult written passages are discussed as sources of errors. How to use errors in assignments, classroom examples, examination questions, and…

Describes how one writing center with many English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students has integrated the "cultural informant" role of tutors with their role of teaching self-editing strategies. Reviews the process of introducing ESL students to use of a learner's dictionary, minimal marking, and error logs. Offers examples of using these…

Argues that, to deal effectively with sentence errors of basic writers, it is crucial to distinguish between what should be left alone and what can be productively marked and how it should be marked. Proposes a taxonomy of four sources of errors (knowledge, dialect, process, and developmental errors) and seven ways to address them. (SR)

An electronic mail project designed to create personal dialogue between native speakers and college students in a modern French civilization course is described. It was found that French participants added nuance to generalizations about their culture and brought understanding to certain historical events occurring during the course. Linguistic…

Outlines issues in the teaching of discourse organization to learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Describes such discourse features as turn-taking, turn-allocation, transaction, exchanges, repair strategies, topic selection and change, and error correction, and suggests classroom techniques and activities for teaching them. (MSE)

A discussion of misunderstandings occurring in the college classroom looks at the common sources of misconceptions and offers three ways to diagnose and address them: (1) asking students to think aloud as they solve problems; (2) having students teach course topics; and (3) reviewing students' notes with them. (MSE)

Student journals are recommended as a technique for encouraging college students to take a deep approach to learning. Literature on their use is reviewed, and considerations in their classroom use are discussed, including the physical form of the journal, grading, error correction, comments, style, privacy, when to use journals, when to read them,…