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An extensive comparative analysis of dysfunctional sentences found in the writing of prefreshmen at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) was conducted to examine and to describe possible differences in dysfunctional sentences produced by remedial and nonremedial writers. Writing samples consisted of randomly selected freshman placement examinations. Each of the 300 samples was analyzed for a frequency count of selected dysfunctions and for a transformational description of all dysfunctional sentences in order to determine if there were any frequently occurring anomalous structures that were unique to basic writing. Results indicated that particular structural errors did occur with greater frequency in developmental writing. The most significant finding with regard to the data resulting from the frequency count was that each group largely exhibited its own pattern of errors. With regard to the use of combining transformations in dysfunctional sentences, however, no significant differences among the groups were evident. (The major portion of the document consists of appendixes containing information and data related to the study.) (HOD)