The debate continues between those who believe in giving corrective feedback to students to improve their written accuracy and those who do not. Indeed, the results of the many experimental studies on written corrective feedback carried out over the last 20 years have been so contradictory that second language teachers looking to support their…

Discusses selected theoretical aspects of providing error feedback for language learners. Theoretical considerations concerning the dialog with the learner about linguistic errors are discussed, and some conclusions for computer assisted language learning (CALL) system design are drawn. (Author/VWL)

Reports on an exploratory study that examined and compared foreign-language student and teacher beliefs regarding the benefit of a focus on form in language learning. Results showed that students are relatively favorable toward a focus on form; however, surprising discrepancies surfaced in teacher beliefs and in a comparison of student and teacher…

Poses four important questions relevant to error diagnosis and correction in computer assisted language learning (CALL). These questions relate to the diagnosis of persistent second language (L2) learner grammar errors, whether these can be corrected, what types of feedback from the computer are most efficient for focusing the students' attention…

Critiques a study on instruction, first language influence, and developmental readiness in second language acquisition. Agrees with conclusions of the study but argues that the study itself provided no justification for the conclusion other than what has been evident in research carried out on Quebec francophone school learners of English. The…

This article reports on the results of a research study that investigated the effectiveness of using an algorithmic approach to error correction to help Hong Kong English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners overcome persistent lexico-grammatical problems. Ten error types were selected for the experiment, and one set of remedial instructional…

Argues that grammatical errors in English-as-a-Second-Language learning are interpretive conflicts that involve meaning as well as form. Noun number errors, or the incorrect use of the plural "-s," are used to illustrate that errors result from two different noun number conceptions: the optional, free-floating -s and the ever present, two-member…

Presents four sets of natural language processing-based exercises for which error correction and feedback are produced by means of a rich database in which linguistic information is encoded either at the lexical or the grammatical level. (Author/VWL)

Examined the effects of daily grammar reviews and correction feedback on student performance in a college-level Spanish culture and conversation course. Results found that although the plus-grammar group significantly outperformed the nongrammar group on grammar-focused instruments, both groups performed equally well on an essay. (47 references)…

To provide some perspective on current issues and challenges concerning the role of grammar in language teaching, methodological trends of the past 25 years are reviewed. A proposal for a decision-making strategy is provided for resolving the controversy regarding how much grammar one should teach to language learners. (VWL)

A questionnaire administered to 607 Colombian foreign language students and 122 of their teachers and to 824 U.S. foreign language students and 92 teachers elicited student and teacher perceptions concerning the role of explicit grammar instruction and corrective feedback in foreign language learning. (Author/VWL)

Reports a study on the impact of learner control on the error correction process within a web-based Intelligent Language Tutoring System (ILTS). During three 1-hour grammar practice sessions, 33 students used an ILTS for German that provided error-specific and individualized feedback. Results indicate the majority of students (85%) sought to…

Debate about the value of providing corrective feedback on L2 writing has been prominent in recent years as a result of Truscott's [Truscott, J. (1996). The case against grammar correction in L2 writing classes. Language Learning, 46, 327-369] claim that it is both ineffective and harmful and should therefore be abandoned. A growing body of…

Uses experimental and control group data to show that students' correction of grammatical and lexical error between assignments reduces such error in subsequent writing over he semester without reducing fluency or quality. Further examines how error correction should be done. (Author/VWL)

Discusses how computer-assisted language learning programs can generate error messages to help students in different ways. The article points out that an easier solution is to program a computer to recognize several different kinds of generic errors not related to any particular question but applicable to many situations, in order to generate…