Discusses student communication in a second language in terms of comprehensibility, irritation, acceptability, communicative strategies, the personality of the second-language speaker, and the differences in perception of the communication by native speakers and nonnative speakers, who are teachers of the language. Recommendations for classroom…

Describes a study designed to examine native speakers' reactions to errors contained in compositions written by advanced Spanish students, as a measure of error seriousness and a guide for selective correction. Suggests that errors interfering with comprehension should be eliminated first, followed by those that elicit negative reactions from…