error analysis

noun

, Linguistics.

1. the systematic study of deviations from target-language norms in the course of second-language acquisition, especially in terms of the learner's developing interlanguage.

Word History and Origins

Origin of error analysis¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Plugged into our error analysis, this implied an interstellar origin with 99.999 percent certainty, but the paper was again turned down by referees, who raised objections about the fact that the statement about uncertainties was a private communication with an anonymous U.S. government employee, and not an official statement from the U.S. government, which Heavner had difficulty in procuring.

From Scientific American

He said one section about the error analysis was “a waste of paper.”

From New York Times

Late Cretaceous to Miocene sea-level estimates from the New Jersey and Delaware coastal plain coreholes: an error analysis.

From Nature

Patat, F. & Romaniello, M. Error analysis for dual-beam optical linear polarimetry.

From Nature

The harmless error analysis is fraught with uncertainty because it requires appeals courts to ponder what a hypothetical jury would have done, requiring it to weigh the evidence to see if there was enough presented to convince the judges there was not a miscarriage of justice.

From New York Times