This discussion of student output concentrates on reasons for learner's errors, types of errors, and some techniques for correcting them. An error is defined as an unintentional deviation from an expected pattern, which could be a linguistic form, a phonological or a grammatical rule, or an incorrect form or expression in a particular situation.…

A study used error analysis to examine and compare the English language proficiency and language learning patterns of two native Japanese speakers, aged 15 and 17. Data were elicited verbally from the subjects, with more elicited from the older, and analyzed for error patterns. Results indicate striking similarities in error patterns; however, a…

This study examines the usage of the auxiliaries "avoir" and "etre" in the passe compose and pluperfect. The study is primarily based on a sample of French written by agroup of grade 9 Franco-Ontarian pupils from the Sudbury region. The students' written French is shown to include a high proportion of cases where intransitive…

This paper describes studies conducted in Saudi Arabia that: (1) investigated the effect of the number of orthographic alternatives of English consonant sounds on the spelling responses of 48 first-year secondary students studying English as a foreign language (EFL); and (2) compared the use of two spelling mechanisms of these first-year secondary…

A study of the effects of learning Swedish as a third language on the previously-learned English of native Finnish-speaking students examined 10,000 English-language school-leaving examinations of Finnish students for possible examples of Swedish influence in vocabulary, grammar, and word order. The examinations were those graded by a native…

A study of self-correction, or repair (the righting of the trouble source) among bilingual secondary students differed from most repair studies in three ways. It: (1) examined results in the form of description rather than in quantifiable analyses; (2) defined errors as trouble sources (hearable errors, breaks in communication such as word…

The purpose of this study was to review some of the criteria given by linguists for the development of language materials and to present a case for error analysis as a major criterion in the preparation of materials for the teaching of writing skills to Iranian freshman students. Chapter one reviews the major events and landmarks bearing upon the…

This study presents a synthesis of major dimensions of the second language teaching-learning process. The first four chapters survey some factors which are considered important in this process and examine what is known and unknown about each one. Subsequent chapters deal with the following problems: (1) language learners' errors, (2)…

A collection of papers on language testing addresses these topics: language tests seen from a communicative viewpoint; microcomputers and testing; productive second language skills; developing teachers' assessment skills; content validity of holistic tests; statistical regression in group conversation tests; reading comprehension; unique…