Abstract

This study is framed in the field of Applied Linguistics in Spanish as a Foreign Language. A practical application for teaching based on assessment and error analysis of Haitian students in Chilean secondary schools is presented. This work is particularly relevant given that the most socioeconomically vulnerable schools in the country have received a significant influx of non-native Spanish speakers without any linguistic policy in place to help these students improve their poor general academic performance. Two analyses were carried out based on students’ written texts: a meta-analysis of evaluation rubrics completed by secondary school language teachers and an error analysis by the researchers. Both of these analyses point to significant deficiencies in the use of Spanish on the part of the students, but they differ in terms of the specific factors that they indicate for greater evaluative focus and subsequent feedback and coverage in the classroom.