Some results of seven studies of children's native Finnish language acquisition from 1971-1980 are summarized, focusing on two aspects: the main features in the development of Finnish inflection forms in 2-7-year-old children, and selected information derived from children's errors at the various age levels. Subjects were 260 children attending…

Examines error gravity research design and its theoretical assumptions. Results indicate that investigators have only skimmed the surface of the process of error evaluation, which is shaped by extralinguistic factors. The article concludes that researchers should reconceptualize error gravity research and reassess earlier studies to confirm or…

Discusses the literature on interference as the cause of errors in second language speech. A study is reported which shows that interference by the native language is most often the factor responsible for the largest number of mistakes in grammar and vocabulary. (Author/AMH)