Assesses the effects on second language learning of written feedback that either suppressed student errors or made them salient. Planned comparisons showed achievement was consistently superior under salient error conditions and with constructively critical feedback. Relevance of the findings for instructional theory and second language teaching…

Proposes an error gravity/distribution factor to give a mathematically consistent evaluation method to error analysis. Such an approach assumes that "seriousness" of error is related to frequency of output and not to notions of degree of communicative difficulty. Distribution of error type is also taken into account. (PJM)

Discusses the ineffectiveness of one-phase marking, i.e. direct correction of errors by the teacher, and the effectiveness of two-phase marking in which the teacher makes the student aware of an error but does not indicate what the error is. (CFM)

Comments on the increasing variation in grading practice in English courses in grades 11-13. Discusses the judgment categories of content and expressive ability, as well as formal correctness and the definition of the error quotient. Two thirteenth-grade student papers are corrected and graded. (IFS/WGA)

Reports on research into the validity of the theory of interlanguage, based on evidence of interference of the native language in Dutch students of French. (AM)

This article analyzes three studies undertaken to scientifically define error patterns, and outlines a methodology for investigating them. The studies concern native English speakers learning French. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Describes an answer analysis system, called Answer Pattern Manager, that solves the difficult problem of recognizing student reproduction of spoken Japanese sentences. It allows all reasonable Roman spellings of Japanese words, while at the same time detecting mishearings and distinguishing between important and unimportant words. (Contains eight…

Examination of the ability of 300 German learners of English to state relevant rules and supply appropriate corrections to 12 common English errors indicates that, although rules do seem to help students correct errors, students could frequently supply appropriate corrections without knowing rules, which were sometimes difficult to learn. (41…

The strategy used in "Miniprof," a program designed to provide "intelligent" instruction on elementary topics in French, is described. At an erroneous response, the program engages the student in a Socratic dialog and uses three major functions: parsing, error diagnostics, and tutoring. (10 references) (Author/LB)

Tested two hypotheses about how English-speaking children learn to avoid making argument structure errors such as "don't giggle me." Ninety-six children were introduced to two nonce verbs, one as a transitive verb and one as an intransitive verb. Found empirical support for the constraining role of verb classes and preemption, but only for…

This study compares pauses, repetitions and recasts in matched task interactions under face-to-face and computer-mediated conditions. Six first-year English undergraduates at a Turkish University took part in Skype-based voice chat with a native speaker and face-to-face with their instructor. Preliminary quantitative analysis of transcripts showed…

Examines possible comparison techniques which should transcend linguistic levels and should be of practical use in the learning process. The article goes on to discuss the possibility of a contrastive study of errors. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

The criteria employed in most textbooks to differentiate "ser" and "estar" followed by an adjective are mainly semantic. Most exercises offer to second language learners too high a proportion of "estar" usages, a practice that leads to overgeneralization with regard to the use of "estar." An experiment was…

Speakers of languages without a surface case system tend, when learning German, to place predicate nominals erroneously in the accusative case when the verb is passive or the sentence governs a passive rather than an active situation. Three hypotheses are offered to explain this phenomenon: (1) the learner carries over the deep structure relations…