Information processing researchers have assumed that algebra symbol skills depend on mastery of the abstract rules presented in the curriculum (Matz, 1980; Sleeman, 1986). Thus, students' ubiquitous algebra errors have been taken as indicating the need to embed algebra in rich contextual settings (Kaput, 1995; National Council of Teachers of…

This paper examines variables such as linguistic ability in the target language, schemata, and psychological factors affecting the English language reading success or failure of a 31-year-old Thai graduate student in the information system program at a U.S. university. The subject's self-assessment of reading, speaking, and listening in Thai was…

A study examined patterns of English usage in 52 Japanese university freshmen's written compositions, particularly in the use of the subordinating conjunction "because." It was found that students often fragmented sentences when "because" was involved, or used a comma to separate a trailing dependent "because" clause…

Early reading should be studied from three perspectives: the function of print, the form of print, and the conventions of print. In so doing, it may be possible to avoid some of the hazards that have plagued the field, such as unsubstantiated assumptions about beginning reading and how it should be taught, erroneous beliefs that maturation plays…

To assess enrollment trends in Michigan colleges and universities, two surveys were conducted in 1976 and 1977. Community colleges reported either fairly constant enrollments in remedial courses or slight increases; many of their students had always needed remedial work. For four-year institutions, increases were often dramatic. This is paralleled…

The results of a study assessing the grammatical instruction needs of developmental English students and students of advanced English as a second language (ESL) at the University of Louisiana are reported. Faculty hypothesized that developmental English and freshman ESL students made many similar grammatical errors, and to test this hypothesis, a…

This paper reports on the development of an error-coding instrument and a computerized continuous feedback system for the diagnostic evaluation and remedial treatment of unstructured second-language performances and the use of such a system in an instructional setting. The system does the following: it allows quick, objective, accurate, and…

This paper analyzes short stories written in English and French by French immersion pupils at the Grade 3 level. Their English writing skills are compared to those of Grade 3 pupils in a regular English program. Aspects of their writing skills which are examined include vocabulary skills, technical skills (punctuation, capitalization and…

This paper reports results of a preliminary analysis of the errors made by Russian exchange students learning English at S.U.N.Y. in Albany. Error samples are taken from a taped panel discussion containing prepared and spontaneous speech, from a TOEFL test, and from a quiz. Errors are divided into intralingual, or those reflecting general…

The general objective of a research program on adaptive testing was to identify several sources of potential error in test scores, and to study adaptive testing as a means for reducing these errors. Errors can result from the mismatch of item difficulty to the individual's ability; the psychological effects of testing and the test environment; the…

A study investigated the roles of phonological encoding and visual processes in word recognition in American learners of Arabic as a foreign language. Subjects were 36 individuals with proficiency ranging from beginning to native. Two experiments in word recognition were conducted, one at word and one at sentence level. At each level, the word…

A study investigated the perceptions of native English-speakers concerning the spoken grammatical and phonetic (accent) errors of non-native speakers. Speech samples were collected from three non-native speakers of English of varied linguistic backgrounds (German, Spanish, and Arabic) and one speaker of North American English. Each of the four…

This study explored the dichotomy between global errors, that is, those violating rules of overall sentence structure, and local errors, that is, those violating rules within a particular constituent of a sentence, and the relationship of these to communication breakdown. The focus was tense continuity across clauses (TC) and subject-verb…

A survey of 42 faculty members in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) was conducted to aid in the development of a spelling course for VCCS students; 21 questionnaires were returned. The survey investigated causes of spelling problems, possible solutions, most common types of errors, curricula in which students have most spelling…

For one important set of data, namely, the data on unemployment and employment collected by the Census Bureau in its monthly Current Population Survey (CPS), some information on nonsampling error is available that can be used to evaluate the regularly reported labor force figures. The paper is concerned with the nonsampling error that relates…