A study of recurrent faults in multiple-choice items in Britain's Open University's computer-marked tests has led to a procedure for avoiding these faults. A description of the study covers the incidence and sources of faults (obviousness, memorization, unclear instruction, ambiguity, distractors, inter-item effects, and structure) and…

Four basic types of student errors in computation are noted and described. These are: (1) mechanical, (2) careless, (3) conceptual, and (4) procedural. It is felt many teachers deal with all errors as if they were of the unhabituated procedural type, with not enough attention given to other possibilities. (MP)

Illustrates the pitfalls of French grammar and syntax by reproducing a student's composition, which mangles the language. Draws from similarly frustrating experiences and from a "New York Times" article entitled "The Fumble-rules of Grammar" to compile a list of "General Principles for the Improvement of Oral and Written French Expression." (MES)

Presents results of a study on how accurately instructors in composition identified various kinds of errors. (RL)

Analysis of oral reading error patterns is an integral step in the diagnosis of reading disabilities. Effects of passage difficulty on first- and third-grade students oral reading error patterns was investigated. Two methods of error analysis were employed: quantitative and qualitative. Implications of findings are discussed. (Author/GSK)

Deals with English stress problems for Iraqis under three main headings: single-stressed words, double-stressed words, and unstressed syllables. While stress in Arabic is predictable, stress in English is not. The Iraqi will transfer native-language stress patterns to English. Errors cause miscommunication and are difficult to pinpoint. (PJM)

Present a study in which Arab subjects were to change 10 English declarative sentences into yes/no questions. Results showed 25.6 percent of the answers were erroneous. An attempt is made to account for the source of error. Most errors were not due to effects of the native language, but to the verb form used. (PJM)

Students were administered either conditional syllogism, biconditional syllogism, or conditional and biconditional syllogism tests. Analyses confirmed a tendency towards biconditionality. With conditional syllogisms, results indicated variations across forms of both major and second premises and a reversed developmental trend on problems which…

The need for traps, a program routine which checks the validity of the user's response to the computer's request for input, in Computer Assisted Learning Packages, is discussed. Several example traps are described. (MK)

Young children (153 normal preschool and primary graders, 19 cerebral palsied 5 to 15 year olds, and 16 learning disabled 7 to 12 year olds) were given a test of immediate visual memory which required selection of a geometric design from among six alternatives, including a mirror image and a rotation. (CL)

To examine the association between reversal errors and neurological disorders, 409 first graders were asked to name the letters of the lowercase alphabet presented in fixed, nonalphabetical order. (Author)

Error patterns identified in cloze tests for independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels could be useful in diagnostic work and placing of students in appropriate reading levels. (Editor)

Presents two experiments which demonstrate that language-generalization tests should tend to decrease Type 2 errors. (AM)

Examines young children's ability to use simple morphological relations among words as a source of information about the words' spelling. Found that children used morphological relations among words only to a small extent. Suggests that although phonology plays an important role in early spelling, young children can also use other sources of…

Describes the acquisition, frequency, and function of the English articles ("a,""the," and "O"--the zero article). Explains the two types of zero article (zero and null), and shows how these occur in alternation with "a" and "the." Also provides a framework for the presentation of the articles in the classroom at the beginning, intermediate, and…