ERRARE MATER STUDIORUM EST Un estudio sobre las actitudes hacia los errores escritos

Abstract

The study examines the attitudes towards written errors commonly made by Swedish students learning Spanish as a foreign language. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods the study compares the attitudes of Swedish, Spanish and French students. The conclusion is that in general the native Spanish speakers are more likely to accept errors than the other two groups in the study. However, the different errors examined are evaluated in different ways by the three groups, one example being the confusion of the verbs ser and estar. This is evaluated in a positive manner by the French group while being the least accepted error by the native Spanish speakers. Certain factors are identified as important, such as the level of Spanish of the informant which plays a more important role in the construction of attitudes than the mother tongue of the informant. Furthermore, the study establishes that the evaluation is in fact not always as positive as the informants claim.