A comparison of the error profiles of monolingual (child L1) learners of Dutch, Moroccan children (child L2) and Moroccan adults (adult L2) learning Dutch as their L2 shows that participants in all groups massively overgeneralize [-neuter] articles to [+neuter] contexts. In all groups, the reverse gender mistake infrequently occurs. Gender…

The paper tries to answer the question--to what extent the English Language Teaching theory informs the ELT practice in a reflective case study. It argues that even if it is challenging considering what is beyond the theory in practical use of theory, yet if teacher educators in the field of ELT have a solid academic foundation, they will have the…

Phonological awareness (PA) is the ability to analyze spoken language into its component sounds and to manipulate these smaller units. Literature review related to PA shows that a variety of factor groups play a role in PA in Mandarin such as linguistic experience (spoken language, alphabetic literacy, and second language learning), item type,…

This study investigated the performance of native and non native speakers of Modern Greek language on morphology and syntax tasks. Non-native speakers of Greek whose native language was English, which is a language with strict word order and simple morphology, made more errors and answered more slowly than native speakers on morphology but not…

The present paper looks at the growing population of Russian heritage speakers from a linguistic and psycholinguistic perspective. The study attempts to clarify further the notion of heritage language by comparing the linguistic performance of heritage speakers with that of monolinguals and second language learners. The amount of exposure to…

Generalised access to the Internet and globalisation has led to increased demand for translation services and a resurgence in the use of machine translation (MT) systems. MT post-editing or the correction of MT output to an acceptable standard is known to be one of the ways to face the huge demand on multilingual communication. Given that the use…

This paper discusses two influential studies on relative clauses (RC), and addresses the development of relative clauses in the interlanguage of advanced Chinese English-as-a-Second-Language speakers in light of the theory of Accessibility Hierarchy (AH). As the two theories predict, avoidance of RCs is typically found with oblique and genitive…

Emphasizes that error analysis is not the analysis of the learner's competence. Laments the lack of texts which deal with frequently recurring types of errors, such as those discussed in this article, and which could help to forestall the production of these errors. (IFS/WGA)

Native and nonnative speakers of English listened to a nonnative speaker's reading of well-formed sentences and those containing grammatical errors of three types. Identified errors were judged for gravity on a 5-point scale. In a second experiment, subjects identified error types and rated them for gravity and annoyance in an aural task; they…

The concept of error, or mistake, is a sensitive and crucial issue in both second language learning and second language instruction. Error can play a constructive role in learning and, under some conditions, in teaching, and avoidance of error may be less productive than confrontation with it. (MSE)

Maintains that measuring syntactic error alone is inadequate and that syntactic maturity should also be considered. Discusses ways of measuring syntactic maturity in spoken English of nonnative speakers and examines the relationship of syntactic error to syntactic maturity. (EKN)

Recent research has worked out a system for French orthography which is useful in teaching foreign learners, especially as regards errors due to confusing similar words and to native language interference. Grammar-related errors are discussed, with suggestions for combating them. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Statistics on errors in written French by students in first- and second-year language courses. (DD)

Explores error in writing in relation to particular aspects of second language acquisition and theories of the writing process in the first and second language (L2). Argues that a focus on the writing process as a pedagogical tool is only appropriate for L2 learners if attention is given to linguistic development, and if learners are able to get…

Highlights current thinking on transfer or crosslinguistic influence in second language acquisition and discuses implications for second language teaching. (Author/VWL)