The article outlines specific procedures for analyzing student errors and using the information gained as a tool for making appropriate assessment and instructional decisions. (DLS)

Examined relations between algebraic word-problem attributes and students' strategies, errors, and problem difficulty. Found that constructed responses capture strategy formulation and high-level planning--as do traditional measures of quantitative reasoning--but are more sensitive to individual problem characteristics and procedural errors that…

Two experiments examined the communicative bases of preschoolers' object appearance-reality (AR) errors. Found that AR performance correlated positively with performance on a control test with the same discourse structure but nondeceptive stimuli, and on a naming test. Overall findings indicated that the discourse structure of AR tests elicits a…

To test the cross-cultural generality of relational-models theory, 4 studies with 70 adults examined social errors of substitution of persons for Bengali, Korean, Chinese, and Vai (Liberia and Sierra Leone) subjects. In all four cultures, people tend to substitute someone with whom they have the same basic relationship. (SLD)

This article discusses the importance of understanding the language learning process for more effective teaching. Language learning is seen as no different from other cognitive processes, and is considered a creative activity. Variables that determine the nature of language learning are discussed. (CLK)

Deals with the provisional grammar known as Learner's Language that foreign language learners develop in the learning process. Data derived from observing Learner's Language have two major implications for foreign language teaching: the reordering of learning sequences, and the need for providing a full communicative context throughout the…

Valuable insights into the reading process can be gained by analyzing children's reading miscues and by encouring children to use their linguistic knowledge when reading. (JH)

This report describes a study conducted to discover whether children with language delay would respond differently from normal children on two identically itemed tests of knowledge of adjectives and prepositions, one of which using objects as stimuli and the other using pictorial stimuli. It was hypothesized that the test using objects would be…

This paper analyzes a typical school spelling task in terms of an information processing model of spelling performance. Based on principles embodied in a computer simulation program previously reported (SPEL by Simon and Simon) the model proposed here has been expanded to try to account for many more kinds of student error than were possible with…