A comprehensive study on error analysis was conducted to categorize problematic areas for French-speaking learners of English. "Faux amis" seemed to have been the cause of about 50 percent of the errors analyzed under lexis. Noun, adjective, and verb errors are illustrated. (SW)

Reaction of the target language speaker to the second language learner's errors may play an important role in developing awareness of norms of correctness. A model for corrective feedback has been developed. Its use helps isolate ambiguities, highlights features of corrective interaction effective in eliciting correct performance. (CHK)

A study of errors in papers written by upper-level (Grades 11-13) students of English, notably in the use of participles, inversion, modal auxiliary verbs, pointed to deficiencies in upper-level teaching texts, insufficient exposure, and goals that are too high. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

A discussion of error analysis understood as the differences between the way people learning a language speak and the way adult native speakers use the language. The inevitable errors can be turned to pedagogical advantage if the teacher provides appropriate feedback to help the learner modify his grammar. (AMH)

The teacher of English to non-native speakers needs information not available in a descriptive English grammar. This article examines the teacher's grammatical needs with reference to article usage in English and proposes an outline of one section of such a teaching grammar. Items discussed are "a,""the,""-s" and "some." (CHK)

An analysis of the written compositions of German students (aged 16+, in their fourth or sixth year of English as a foreign language) with regard to their use of the progressive form. Four problem areas are enumerated, and it is suggested that these be included in pedagogic grammars. (KM)

Recommends using short nonsense texts, containing as many contradictions as possible, to further the students' acquisition of free-speaking competence. The nonsense sentences are to be corrected by the students, and are to be labeled: "practically impossible,""impossible in the context," or "strange." Four short nonsense texts are given. (IFS/WGA)

The acceptability of a sentence is dependent on context: some sentences look awkward in isolation but improve in an appropriate context, whereas other sentences look all right in isolation but fail to fit certain types of context. Of particular interest is the degree and specificity of textual fit of different thematic (theme-rheme, topic-comment)…

Types of errors Arabs make with definiteness are classified and the rate of occurrence of errors are counted. Sixteen three-hour college-level American history final examinations written by Arabic speakers were examined. (SW)

The purpose of this paper is to classify the types of errors Arabs make with definiteness in English and to count the rate of occurrence of each. To accomplish this, 16 three-hour American history final examinations written by Arabic speakers at the University of Texas at Austin were examined. This discussion is limited to the four categories (out…

The second volume in this series on Serbo-Croatian-English contrastive analysis contains seven articles. They are: "The Use of Contrastive and Error Analysis to Practicing Teachers," by Rudolf Filipovic; "Some Problems in Teaching English Noun Phrases as Subject to Serbo-Croatian Speakers,""Problems in Teaching the Structure of Some English Noun…

A progress report is presented of a study which applies a system of generative grammar to error analysis. The objective of the study was to reconstruct the grammar of students' interlanguage, using a systematic analysis of errors. (Interlanguage refers to the linguistic competence of a student who possesses a relatively systematic body of rules,…

This study explores the role of the language learning situation by comparing the speech of children in an immersion program, children learning a second language in a natural setting, and native French children. Three groups of children participated in the study: (1) 39 children (Grades K, 1, 3, 5) in a French immersion program in the U.S.; (2) 13…

Presents a method for classifying errors of second language learners for the purpose of: (1) evaluating information in samples of students' communication, (2) diagnosing individual learner needs, (3) developing individualized instructional materials, and (4) deciding which errors to correct first. Suggests applications of the method in…

This paper presents some reasons for reconsidering the use of discrete structure-point tests of language proficiency, and suggests an alternative basis for designing proficiency tests. Discrete point tests are one of the primary tools of the audio-lingual method of teaching a foreign language and are based on certain assumptions, including the…