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An Error Analysis of College Composition(2) : Native and Non-native Speaker Reaction to Errors: Part One

Year: 1991
Type: article
Abstract: With a view to improving composition classes, this research aimed to study the error gravity of composition errors in terms of Comprehension Hindrance and Irritation rated by native speakers (NS) as contrasted with non-NS ratings.An unedited 616word essay written by a Japanese college student was rated by 125 NSs-44 Students, 42 Teachers, and 59 Others -and 26 Japanese Teachers (JT).The raters were asked to single-underline any part where they felt comprehension hindrance and to double-underline any part that they found irritating.The results were: (1) NSs' overall Comprehension Hindrance rating (22.0%) was more than three times as high as that of Irritation (6.6%).( 2) NSs' overall error gravity rating was 28.6% with a wide range from 85.5% to 1.4%, differentiating individual errors well.( 3) Semantic errors drew more severe reaction than grammatical errors.(4) Mechanical errors were always rated by far the lowest.(5) In grammatical errors, verb-related errors topped the list, followed by pronoun reference problems.(6) In semantic errors, Poor Expression and Word Choice were the main problems.( 7) The NS Teachers responded less than the NS Students or Others in Comprehension Hindrance and Error Gravity, but more III Irritation.(8) The NS age groups of 30's and 50's responded to errors more severely than the other groups.(9) The JTs responded less severely than the NSs in Comprehension Hindrance, but much more in Irritation, and accordingly in total Error Gravity.(10) The JTs responded almost equally to both grammatical and semantic errors, while the NSs emphasized semantic factors.(11) The NSs' general evaluation of the essay tended to become more favorable as the age increased.These findings, together with
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2101470028
FWCI:
Cites: 8
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