Which errors really matter

1

Which errors really matter? Maxine Hairston
(1981) surveyed teachers and businesspeople and
found that they noticed writing errors more than
she had expected. They considered some errors to
be Status-marking (outrageous) Mechanical
mistakes (serious) Noticeable (annoying, but
not serious)
2

• Directions Correct the errors in these
  sentences. Then categorize them as
• Status-marking (outrageous)
• Mechanical mistakes (serious)
• Noticeable (annoying)
• The teacher said I done a good job on the
  editing test.
• We can get extra help in the ASC, but I dont
  need none of that.
• Although some people do.
• Me and my friends write our papers the night
  before theyre due.
• As far as im concerned, losing a little sleep is
  no big deal.

3

Corrections Hairstons respondents considered all
of these errors to be status-marking, or
outrageous.

• The teacher said I done a good job on the
  editing test. (wrong verb tense)
• 2. We can get extra help in the ASC, but I dont
  need none of that. (double negative)
• 3. Although some people do what? (fragment)
• 4. Me and my friends write our papers the night
  before theyre due. (object used as subject)
• 5. As far as im concerned, losing a little sleep
  is no big deal. (capitalization)

4

Directions Correct the errors in these
sentences. Then categorize them as
Status-marking (outrageous) Mechanical
mistakes (serious) Noticeable (annoying)

• 6. My friend Shan, always does at least a rough
  draft and a revised draft.
• Im trying to decide whether to go into criminal
  justice, study business management, or paralegal.
  
• Any one of these programs are a good choice for
  me.
• If I do good in my classes, my chances of getting
  a good job will increase.
• 10. Our textbook is heavy, so I am glad to sit it
  down when I get to class.

5

Corrections Hairstons respondents considered
these errors to be serious.

• 6. My friend Shan, always does at least a rough
  draft and a revised draft. (appositive)
• 7. Im trying to decide whether to go into
  criminal justice, study business management, or
  paralegal. (parallelism)
• 8. Any one of these programs are a good choice
  for me. (subject-verb agreement)
• 9. If I do good in my classes, my chances of
  getting a good job will increase. (adverb, not
  adj.)
• 10. Our textbook is heavy, so I am glad to sit it
  down when I get to class. (sit vs. set)

6

Are the findings still valid? The original
study was done in 1981. Hairston, M. (1981).
Not all errors are created equal Nonacademic
readers in the professions respond to lapses in
usage. College English, 43, 794-806.
7

At least three studies have validated it.
One found that women are more irritated by
errors than men are (Kantz Yates,
1994). Kantz, M., Yates, R. (1994). Whose
judgments? A survey of faculty responses to
common and highly irritating writing errors.
Retrieved July 19, 2006,from http//www.ateg.org/
conferences/c5/kantz.htm
8

Students in a linguistics class duplicated
Hairstons study and confirmed her findings
(Usage Matters, 1999). Usage matters A
comparative study of judgments of English usage
errors. (1999, June 7). Retrieved July 19, 2006,
from English department Web site, California
Polytechnic State University http//cla.calpoly.
edu/jrubba/390/survey/390.RESULTS.html
9

Connors and Lunsford (1986) found in
contrast to the popular picture of English
teachers mad to mark up every error, our results
show that even the most-often marked errors are
only marked two-thirds of the time. Connors,
A., Lunsford, R. (1986). Frequency of formal
errors in current college writing, or Ma and Pa
Kettle do research. College Composition and
Communication, 39, 395409, Retrieved July 19,
2006, from http//www.english.lsu.edu/
dept/programs/ugrad/firstyear/articles/makettle.pd
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