The purpose of this study was to examine the use of word prediction software to increase typing speed and decrease spelling errors for students who have physical disabilities that affect hand use. Student perceptions regarding the effectiveness of word prediction was examined as well as their typing rates and spelling accuracy. Four students with…

This paper describes studies conducted in Saudi Arabia that: (1) investigated the effect of the number of orthographic alternatives of English consonant sounds on the spelling responses of 48 first-year secondary students studying English as a foreign language (EFL); and (2) compared the use of two spelling mechanisms of these first-year secondary…

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…

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…

A descriptive study examined: the relative influence of native language (L1) literacy skills and second language (L2) oral proficiency on students' ability to read and spell in the second language. A second dimension of the study examined students' second language misspellings in order to identify examples of positive and negative transfer of L1…

The emphasis of the Schools Council Research and Development Project at the University of Wales on teaching English to Welsh pupils aged 8-13 was on curriculum development. This paper covers the problem of acquiring the necessary basic knowledge about the needs of Welsh first language pupils in the learning of English when long-term, rigorous…

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…

This book presents a three-part discussion of the causes and prevention of errors in foreign language learning with particular reference to English as a second language. The first part provides a survey of error analysis, defining what is meant by the term "error" and establishing a model of error production. Other terms explained in this section…

A study examined whether patterns exist in the kinds and amounts of writing errors students make and whether teachers follow any sort of pattern in correcting these errors. Sixty compositions, gathered from a twelfth grade class taught by one teacher, were analyzed using the "McGraw-Hill Handbook of English." Student written errors were…

Based on results from research on children's spelling, it has been established that spelling errors produced by ESL students in this study of 6th grade students parallels the errors of native speakers of English in the same classroom. The ESL students are also impacted by cross-linguistic influence of the phonology of their native tongue. This…

The influence of mother-tongue interference is examined on the basis of data from two tests at different levels of English proficiency: a commercial-college level, covering 4-5 years of English studies, involving a composition and translation test, and a preuniversity level, covering 7-8 years of English studies, with a multiple-choice test. A…

A collection of papers on contrastive linguistics includes: "Prototypes and Equivalence" (Tomasz P. Krzeszowski); "Comparing the Incomparable? English Adjectives in "-able" and Their Rendering in Modern Chinese" (Arthur Mettinger); "Classification and Distribution of Lexical Errors in the Written Work of German Learners of English" (Rudiger…

The four 1984 quarterly numbers of the journal include feature articles, techniques for teaching English as a second language (ESL), research summaries, and book reviews. The feature articles include: "The English Language Center at King Faisal University"; "English Language Training at ARAMCO"; "AlBank AlSaudi AlHollandi's Practical English…

The reflections in this paper represent part of a study of disadvantaged 13 to 15 year-old children of immigrants in Switzerland. This section deals with the process of learning spelling. In order to observe the students' learning, the same dictation was given four times during the school year. The results were studied intuitively and…