errors language learning james carl 1998 errors language learning use exploring error analysis london longman isbn 0 582 25763 8 paperback rrp 14 99 analysis errors cognitive linguistic psychological processes long history dating back introduction signal detection theory psychophysics behavioural learning paradigms although many applied linguists favour interlanguage paradigms secondlanguage acquisition error analysis ea still widely used language classes attraction ea lies one ability isolate variability responses distinguishing true errors mistakes simple correct incorrect paradigms tend discard new book ea language learning usage carl james builds earlier work contrastive analysis applied linguistics explore role performance errors play language acquisition particularly secondlanguage acquisition book consists historical overview ea applied linguistics embarks ambitious attempt define constrain scope methodology ea language processing language learning methodology includes typologies classifying understanding errors arise well algorithmic specifications diagnosis error correction clinical educational settings first chapter aims give historical overview ea context origins inspirations competitors influences second language teaching james defines error unsuccessful bit language p 1 seems succinct compact description ever read however readable style writing whilst appearing informal maintained later chapters discussion technical issues could easily obfuscated poor writing style first secondorder paradigms within language learning described detail chapter interlanguage crosslinguistic approaches compared alternatives ea contrastive analysis idiosyncratic languagespecific difficulties language learnability also covered context linguistic change metalinguistic influences successful language acquisition several methods collecting data ea informally introduced chapter e g error elicitations broad trawl naturally leads second chapter defining scope ea language acquisition second chapter begins enlightening discussion popular conceptions proper language king english catalogues many failed attempts enforce correct dialect english britain asia complaints tradition issue clearly relevant defining exactly error given absolutist attributions made educators policy makers tenability correctness certain forms spoken written english e standard english james outlines typologies understanding language norms based geographical historical constraints correctly identifies deficiencies schemes particularly failure example understand role colonialism language preferences issue taken respect issue power authority native speakers respect nonnative speakers english conversely desire speak second language unwittingly result language loss native language change chapters 3 4 5 focus definition description errors within ea paradigm defined focus ea methodology previous chapters james begins defining learners ignorance target language terms four categories deviance grammaticality acceptability correctness strangeness clear advantage authors approach ea grammatical rational performance empirical approaches language acquisition covered typology thus taking sides one viewpoint rationale based idea ea methodology rather theoretical prescription focus continues discussion error detection methods context locating describing errors different parts speech indeed respect discourses longer single sentences phrases importance pluralistic approach tolerant differences dialects emphasised whilst ensuring objective stationary criteria applied utterances writing within dialect group error taxonomies feature surface structure approaches outlined detail worked examples one key design features authors pedagogical approach computer assisted analysis errors also discussed specific algorithmic approaches rating levels error lexical grammatical processes next two chapters focus diagnosing errors evaluating seriousness impact secondlanguage learners particular possible negative influences interlingual errors arising conflicts target language mother tongue treated detail intralingual errors inconsistencies nonnative speaker encounters first time target language overgeneralisations false analogies addition role culture influencing perhaps determining aspects linguistic behaviour discussed example native speakers might gate nonnative speaker error gravity comprehensibility also covered amusing examples given irritation factor sociopragmatic consequences error production social situations potentially negative outcomes nonnative speakers also discussed chapter 8 discusses pragmatic strategies using ea correct errors speech writing second language learners enhanced number case studies presented chapter 9 issues covered last two chapters nontrivial applied linguistics second language teaching effective approaches best suited particular kinds students formal grammatical informal conversational approaches superior although james provides magic answers questions present coherent methodology answering kinds questions individual situations great appeal book book would suitable undergraduate graduate text applied linguistics tesl programmes invaluable reference researchers related fields psycholinguistics machine translation might searching formal methodology understanding error production respective fields book indispensable addition every linguist library reviewed paul watters department computing school mathematics physics computing electronics macquarie university nsw 2109 australia tel 61 29850 9541 fax 61 29850 9551 e mail pwatters mpce mq edu au paul watters research officer macquarie university australia currently working computational representations semantics models language speech production well developing pragmatic approaches machine translation associate editor south pacific journal psychology