Abstract

This work includes an examination of the efficacy of error correction in language teaching from historical, pedagogical and sociolinguistic perspectives. A particular error-correction technique, error replay , is discussed and tested in a longitudinal case study of an adult learner of English as a second language. Error replay is a technique in which learner errors from recorded samples of free discourse are presented in written form for learners to review and correct at a later time. Results from the case study show that there was a markedly positive effect of error replay on the elimination of persistent errors in the adult learner who participated in this study. This process of elimination of errors, as well as an eliminated error itself is referred to as ( an ) outtake in this thesis. Examples of outtakes in later recordings of the learner are traced from the beginning to the end of the study in order to explore the processes involved in eliminating errors from learner speech. Chronologically related learner reflections during the study are compared to learner progress in order to explore the relationship among error correction, noticing and learner behavior. There is evidence from this study to support the hypothesis that error correction is instrumental in prompting noticing which leads to behavioral changes. This work concludes with a description of a web-based tool based on the error replay technique. A working prototype of the tool, dubbed ErrorBuster , was developed as part of this thesis.