The count/mass disinction is often considered to be a semantic one because it distinguishes those nouns that refer to countable things from those that refer to non-countable things. However, exceptions indicate that semantic properties alone are not sufficient to determine noun sub-categorization. Therefore, such sub-categorization must be defined…

A research project is discussed involving the collection of production data from writing samples of 375 adult learners of English divided equally among five language backgrounds: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Persian, and Spanish. Information is presented about three constructions: (1) subject relative clause, (2) infinitival complement on verb, and…

Error analysis can provide teachers with a foundation for creating practical writing experiences for students and can allow the teacher to examine errors for linguistic features appropriate and inappropriate to the social context of writing. Teachers tend to call for a finished, error-free product, a polished final paper instead of using error…

This study documents the emerging ability of children to use demonstrative expressions and definite and indefinite articles in order to establish a clear reference for the hearer in a natural discourse situation. The analysis is based primarily on transcripts of twins recorded over a period of nine months when they were 33 to 42 months old.…

Kean (EJ 165 107) presented a linguistic model to account for the features of the syndrome of Broca's aphasia, especially their agrammatism. This paper critiques Kean's paper by describing and evaluating her five major arguments. It is concluded that Kean's phonological model cannot account for agrammatism as well as syntactic models can.…

Reports on a study which sought to compare syntax acquisition in French by francophone and non-francophone children, in order to establish the order in which French grammatical elements are acquired, and in order to create a French version of the Bilingual Syntax Measure. (AM)

The study of the evaluation of error analysis in teaching English as a second language can contribute to the theory and practice of analyzing errors students make in written composition. (DD)

Ease or difficulty of learning simplified and complex Chinese characters is examined in terms of recognition and reproduction. Empirical observations and careful studies of errors in learning situations lead to the conclusion that complex characters are harder to learn. Teaching of Chinese characters therefore should proceed from simplified to…

Presents a method by which the student arrives inductively at a realization of the French vowel system. (Text is in French.) (AM)

A comparison of bilingual college students learning a third language with monolinguals learning a second language indicated that the bilingual students' metalinguistic awareness provided them with an advantage over monolingual students. Another comparison found that bilingual students with formal language training had an advantage over bilingual…

Explores unformalized problems arising from different linguistic representations and non-representations of the categorical distinction between the real and unreal in French and in English. Because the different sensitivities to these oppositions are not acknowledged by manuals and not formalized by dictionary examples of usage, the differences…

Discusses the potential value of contrastive analysis (CA) in second language teaching. Describes the psychological basis of CA, briefly reviews the linguistic developments and some of the criticisims of CA, and concludes that both CA and error analysis are useful in understanding the second language learning process. Discusses the classroom…

Current spelling assessment practices are reviewed. Six individually administered standardized tests presently available to special educators and diagnosticians are examined. Informal procedures (inventories, criterion-referenced tests, and error analysis) are analyzed in terms of advantages and disadvantages. Finally, two particularly promising…

Describes a study designed to determine which sentence level errors by nonnative speakers of English are judged to be most serious by an academic community and to discover what factors may influence this judgment. Most respondents saw the errors in relative rather than absolute terms, forming an error hierarchy. (SED)

Investigates second language phonology (English) of two native Hungarian speakers. Finds evidence for phonetic and phonological transfer but argues that there are limitations on what can be transferred. Contrasts error analysis approach with autonomous system analysis and concludes that each provides unique information and should be used together…