Children's spelling errors were examined to determine the relationships between linguistic cues used (phonetic, graphemic, and morphophonemic), grade level, reading proficiency, and spelling proficiency. The standardized reading and spelling test scores of 180 second, third, and fourth grade students were used to randomly select 22 good…

This paper describes the Qualitative Analysis of Silent and Oral Reading Instrument (QASOR), which was developed to provide an alternative to the Reading Miscue Inventory for observing the oral and silent reading of students in the middle and secondary grades. An overview of QASOR shows that it is designed for use by reading specialists and…

In an effort to comply with bilingual instruction requirements, school districts throughout California will soon be involved in testing vast numbers of children to determine language proficiency and language dominance. Many language tests will require a child to repeat a sentence or a phrase in exactly the same manner that is stated by an examiner…

A study was conducted to compare the effects of two types of word-attack correction procedures within the context of the "Decoding B" component of the S.R.A. corrective reading program and to evaluate the effectiveness of the program with remedial students. Ten teachers and 58 students (aged 7 to 14) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment…

The use of formulaic speech is seen as a learning strategy in children's first language (L1) acquisition to a limited extent, and to an even greater extent in their second language (L2) acquisition. While the first utterances of the child learning L1 are mostly one-word constructions, many of them are routine words or phrases that the child learns…

Some questions concerning foreign language learning and research topics are considered. One discussion question is why education and speech communication research has neglected the special case of second language communication as a source of information on the communication process in general. The need for research into the functional, operational…

The report describes an analysis of errors yielded by a written test in English given to 424 Swedish 14-year-olds from 24 different classes in the comprehensive school. The analysis discusses the difference in attainment between pupils of high and low proficiency, frequencies and types of errors for regular and irregular verbs, and the occurrence…

It is theorized that in English, phonology and semantics are involved in speech production, but the two are linked through syntax. This pilot study compared through error analysis the imitation of English sentences as produced by a Spanish-English speaking mother and her two bilingual daughters, ages six and seven, to determine the syntactic…

This paper discusses error analysis as one source of evidence for an overall theory of second language acquisition. Four related areas which form the context for error analysis are discussed in relation to second language learning and the goals and methodology of error analysis; (1) theories of the nature of language which determine theories of…

This paper presents and illustrates a technique for analyzing the communicative effect of errors produced in spoken and written communication samples by students of English as a second language (ESL). First, a method is demonstrated for eliciting a representative communication sample of a student's speech or writing, using pictorial stimuli.…

How does a computer analyze the appropriateness of a language student's response? Issues arising in the development and use of language-learning software are discussed. (MSE)

Analysis of "lesson" parts in English as a foreign language instructional materials revealed many problems, including: muddled text forms; lack of coherence; lack of completion; and confusing focus of text. (CB)

Analyzes 10 edited essays written by freshmen native and nonnative speakers of English who are novice writers of English. Both groups produced approximately the same number and kinds of sentence level deviations from standard written English, but nonnatives produce fewer faulty structures and more coherent essays with clearer illocutionary guides.…

Examination of the lexical proficiency of 24 near-native and 12 native senior high school speakers of Swedish found no consistent differences between the groups on measures of lexical density, lexical variation, and lexical sophistication. However, clear differences were seen in frequency of errors and in the distribution of error types. (CB)

Investigates the reactions of college professors to two 400-word English compositions (written by a native Chinese and a native Korean-speaking student). Results revealed that content received lower ratings than language; professors rated linguistic errors most seriously; humanities/social science professors were more lenient; older professors…