overcorrection
1
7.2
- noun
- /ˌoʊvərkəˈrɛkʃən/
- Specialized
:
sobrecorrección
- In an attempt to improve their language skills, some learners face overcorrection, where they change the original meaning by altering too many words.
- overcorrection effect
But my question to that is, how do you know when the overcorrection's gone on long enough?
- But my question to that is, how do you know when the overcorrection's gone on long enough?
- I don't, I don't know, maybe subconsciously it's an overcorrection, but like, I don't, you know, I just want to spend time with them.
- And I think there's, there's examples of there will be overcorrection.
- But but I, I mean, I feel like maybe a little bit of an overcorrection because, you know, it's personal, but I mean, I've, I've, I feel like that would be a great start.
Examples
-
Her overcorrection of the report led to several inaccuracies being introduced in the final version.
-
We interpret this as an effect of overcorrection rather than outgroup covariation.
Academic text (2003) -
The current study asks one primary question: "Does contact reduce overcorrection effects?"
Academic text (2003) -
Contact mitigated the overcorrection effect.
Academic text (2003) -
The primary finding of this study is that, among heterosexual U.S. college students, contact moderates overcorrection.
Academic text (2003) -
We argue that when rating qualified job candidates, normative pressures toward being evenhanded may result in overcorrection in the form of more positive ratings of minority candidates.
Academic text (2003) -
Teachers can sometimes make the mistake of overcorrection when they penalize students too harshly for minor grammar mistakes.
Synonyms
An overdone change that creates a new mistake, often in language
How Excessive
Surface Forms
Morphology
overcorrection = overcorrect (transparent) = over + correct + ion
The noun is derived by suffixing '-ion' to 'overcorrect' (over- + correct), and the sense as 'applying a rule too strictly' is a direct extension of 'excessive correction'.
Etymology
Overcorrection comes from over- meaning 'too much' and correct meaning 'make right', so it means 'correcting too much'. In language learning this explains why trying too hard to fix a mistake can lead to a new error, like using 'whom' when 'who' is right.