Spontaneous speech samples of 15 children were analyzed for appropriate and inappropriate use and nonuse of the past tense verbal inflection. It was found that: (1) two types of overgeneralization errors have acquisitional relevance; and (2) partial regularity blocks overgeneralization errors. Two hypotheses were not supported. (CHK)

Analysis of errors made by students learning a second language often reveals active attempts to master the L2 rules. Awareness of error patterns can help language teachers make correction a positive experience and an aid to learning. (CHK)

The uses of error analysis in teaching English as a second language are discussed. Error analysis can pinpoint areas of difficulty for an individual or an entire class. Materials and methods to use in error analysis are detailed, and use of a card file to catalog errors is suggested. (CHK)

Native and nonnative (Indians) English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers' evaluations of certain errors in the written English of ESL college students were compared. Results indicated that native and nonnative perceptions of error gravity were not alike, although both groups saw verb-related error categories like tense, agreement, and question…

Describes children's process of constructing their own knowledge by going through one level after another of being "wrong" and relates this process to reading. Describes six strategies children invent and discusses implications for teaching. (AS)

Describes the development of a computer program called Shoemaker Computerized Instruction Office (SCIO) that contains morphology, vocabulary, and syntax drills used to teach Latin. Latin morphology is explained, student improvement after using the drills is discussed, and planned future enhancements of SCIO, including parsing capabilities, are…

Analyzes intermediate English-as-a-second-language learners' (N=63) written responses to high and low cognitive level questions. Results indicate that although the degree of linguistic inaccuracy remained stable, the higher order of cognition increased both the amount and the order of syntactic complexity of written English responses. (Author/CB)

Investigates the degree to which potential users of language reading proficiency scales acquire the standard for accurately grading reading passages of foreign-language learners. A five-day workshop helped users of the guidelines rank reading passages for levels of difficulty and rate them accurate according to the ACTFL scales. (Author/CB)

Sets forth a "deconstructionalist" approach to writing evaluation that emphasizes the attitude of error analysis. (FL)

Argues that language learning may be fostered by research into certain types of learner errors. Outlines related styles of analysis in applied linguistics and examines semantic errors made by Arabic speakers studying English. Shows how the practice of transferring meanings from one language to another can be made a more useful strategy. (KH)

Analysis of the use of the connective "but" by 3- to 9-year-olds indicated that all most commonly used the word to signal semantic relationships and for pragmatic functions. Younger children most frequently used "but" when causal or precausal relationships existed, and older children used "but" more to encode complex contrast. (Author/CB)

Explores the concept of spelling instruction in the elementary grades through the analysis of error-types. (Author/HOD)

Three- and four-year-old children were asked to perform a judgement task in which they chose between incorrect English transitives and intransitives and their correct adult equivalents. Purely semantic or syntactic models fail to explain the findings as well as does a model based on semantic/syntactic transitivity. (SED)

Reports a study of the written English of native Arab learners which investigated: (1) the extent to which judgments of intelligibility and naturalness differed; (2) the extent to which error type and linguistic context affected the intelligibility, naturalness and interpretability of devian utterances; and (3) the basis for native speakers;…

Children in preschool, first, and third grades heard similar versions of an unfamiliar script-like story followed by a novel story, then were tested for immediate and delayed recall. Children more often confused parts of the similar stories with each other than with the novel story; in addition, preschoolers showed less evidence of constructive…