Goof Analysis for ESL Teachers

This paper presents and illustrates a technique for analyzing the communicative effect of errors produced in spoken and written communication samples by students of English as a second language (ESL). First, a method is demonstrated for eliciting a representative communication sample of a student's speech or writing, using pictorial stimuli. Second, a practical taxonomy is presented for classifying student errors in communicative and linguistic terms. Third, an actual written composition demonstrates step-by-step how to classify, code, and chart these errors systematically. Finally, suggestions indicate ways in which the ESL teacher can use error charts to obtain four different kinds of information about his students' spoken and written proficiency. (Author/AM)