ERIC Number: ED057675
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1971-Sep
Pages: 126
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Evaluation of the Predictive Power of Contrastive Analyses of Japanese and English. Final Report.
Jackson, Kenneth L.; Whitman, Randal L.
This study tests three aspects of the problem of validity of contrastive analysis as a means for predicting errors or problems for second language learners: the constancy of foreign-language errors, the objectivity of the methods and procedures of contrastive analysis, and the capacity of contrastive analysis to make accurate predictions. Japanese students learning English provide the material for the investigation. The report contains details on the language testing and language sampling devices, the pattern of Japanese errors, and the four contrastive analyses used to predict difficulty. Statistical data on the success of the predictions are presented. The study concludes that the present state of contrastive analysis is inadequate, but with further research into the theory of interference contrastive analysis could play an important role in the theory of problem causation. A list of references is included. Appendixes present specific details on the construction of the experiment. (VM)
Descriptors: Applied Linguistics, Cloze Procedure, Comparative Analysis, Contrastive Linguistics, English, English (Second Language), Error Patterns, Interference (Language), Japanese, Language Research, Predictive Measurement, Second Language Learning, Statistical Analysis, Syntax, Tables (Data), Test Construction, Test Reliability
Publication Type: N/A
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: Institute of International Studies (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: Hawaii Univ., Honolulu.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A