Errors and Fluency in Writing

Annotated Research.

Question: Does fear of making mistakes constrain fluency in writing?

Answer: “Fear of risking error constrained fluency, and was fueled by error consciousness and linguistic hypochondria.” JA Aston. 1988. P. 424.

Comment: I don’t know what “linguistic hypochondria” is. But in the early stages of writing, brainstorming and drafting, I always counseled not to worry about mistakes. Time to be concerned about mistakes is when revising and editing. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Russel K Durst and James D Marshall, eds. Research in the Teaching of English (December 1989), 424-442.