An essay on error

In recent years, researchers have started to take an increasing interest in errors that can frustrate teaching and training and learning. These enquiries have, however, tended to be of a special-purpose kind in the sense that they have focused on particular learning domains such as language learning, mathematics learning, and the acquisition of perceptual-motor skills. What is lacking is a more global approach to the problem of error or even, for that matter, a recognition that a global approach might be both possible and informative. This article tries to rectify this gap in the theoretical literature by indicating, in a comparatively discursive and non-rigorous way, the form that such an overall theory of error might take.