| This study addresses the issue of how contrastive analysis generates hypotheses as to what problems Spanish second language learners will have while either learning or acquiring English as a second language.; The issues with which this dissertation is concerned are: (1) Contrastive analysis; (2) Error analysis; (3) Interlanguage; (4) Variability of performance; (5) Second language learning; (6) Second language acquisition; (7) Linguistics and language pedagogy; (8) Linguistically motivated methods; (9) Transfer; (10) Difficulty; and (11) Aspects of developmental psycholinguistics.; This dissertation specifically addresses the issue of mistakes and errors--as defined and distinguished by Corder (1967)--and variability of performance by Hispanic second language learners.; This dissertation consists of five chapters and two appendices. Chapter one is the general introduction and statement of the problem of the study. Chapter two is concerned with pertinent literature related to this dissertation. Chapter three covers the methodology of the study. It describes the subjects--Group I children, Group II adolescents, and Group III adults. Each group consisted of twenty-five subjects. It also describes the settings where the study was performed. Chapter four is concerned with the data analysis and its results. It discusses the statistical significance found from the tests given. It presents the results of the tests and subjects in eleven different tables. Tables 4.1 and 4.11 summarize the findings and test-scores of the study. Chapter five offers a conclusion, limitations, and recommendations for further research. Appendix A covers the raw data. It offers the reader a general view of variability of performance from test-to-test and from individual-to-individual in this particular study. Appendix B covers the rest of the evidence and materials used to perform this study, Spanish/English Translation Tests, and materials used for the Free Response Test. |
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