Great Mistakes correcting your students

Why are mistakes good? Correcting spoken mistakes: o how much? o why / why not? o when? o how?

Why are mistakes a good thing?

Audiolingual view mistakes should be avoided students will repeat mistakes if allowed to make them mistakes are contagious! so teachers should try to prevent / interrupt mistakes to stop them being made. BUT we now believe mistakes: are normal! o its rare for students to understand and use new language immediately o acquiring language for fluent, accurate and creative use takes a long time are part of the learning process learners need to make mistakes to be able to improve, and we need to give them opportunities to make mistakes and get feedback. all students go through the same stages correction wont make them jump a stage. L1 transfer only partly involved

We correct because: feedback can help them when they are ready to move onto the next stage they expect it.

BUT Overcorrection
interrupts the student when they are focussing on meaning (and a waste of time) no chance to develop fluency can make them reluctant to take risks too much information they can get overloaded and remember none of the corrections!

When to correct:
We should interrupt when: we want learners to be accurate e.g. when presenting a new structure and Ss are practising it for the first time the main aim of an activity is practising something and the Ss are constantly wrong (correct the target language only) the mistake causes / could cause misunderstanding or communication breakdown the student is struggling to express something and giving them a little help will mean they can continue speaking (keep it short)

We should give delayed correction / feedback when: Ss are in the middle of a freer speaking activity e.g. roleplay or discussion because fluency and effective communication are the main aims if a shy or weak S is daring to communicate a S is trying to express a complex idea a S is trying to express something personal or emotional the message is more important than correct English.

We should sometimes ignore a mistake when: a S is trying to express a complex idea that needs language far above her/his level a S is trying to express something personal or emotional the message is more important than correct English. Delayed correction could be: make a note of the mistakes and write them on the board after the activity for self-correction (in a group dont identify the owner) give some new expressions or vocabulary after the activity that the Ss can use next time plan a lesson on the structures / expressions that the students needed (review / or new)

Ways of correcting
Compare the ways that different teachers responded to the same error. Match each teacher to the strategies in the table of Correction Strategies. S: We go to the beach yesterday. T1: Yesterday so, grammar? T2: Yesterday, you nd T3: Not quite. Look: we go to the beach yesterday (Holds up one hand and points to 2 finger) T4: Sorry, do you mean you go every day? T5: You went to the beach thats nice. Who did you go with? T6: Makes no comment. The activity continues until, at the end, the teacher says I heard someone say We go to the beach yesterday Can anyone correct that? T7: The teacher says Not go, went T8: We go to the beach yesterday?? T9: Hmm (makes a questioning face or raises hand to stop the student)

Correction strategies
Teacher a Correction strategy Reformulation or recast saying what the student said but correctly delayed correction after the activity advantages quick and easy doesnt break the flow of communication does not interfere with the flow of communication; the teacher has time to prepare what to say easy to use; tells the learner what kind of mistake to look for gives a clear indication of where the problem is; quite flexible quick and easy; indicates where the problem is disadvantages learners often dont realize its a correction little impact students may want immediate correction

teacher prompts using terminology e.g. wrong word, grammar pronunciation finger correction / gestures

learners need to be familiar with the terminology only works with short sentences; takes practice teacher needs to use voice and gestures so the student understands it is a correction, not part of the conversation the student may not know what the error was the student may think the emphasis / intonation is the correct way of saying the sentence the student doesnt have the chance to self correct demotivating; little impact

teacher repeats the utterance to the point of the error

teacher uses an expression, facial expression or gesture just to show that a mistake has been made repeating the sentence with emphasis on the error and/or questioning intonation / face direct correction

gives the student a chance to correct themselves motivating quick and easy

quick and easy

the teacher asks a question

teacher can find out what the intended message was; student can repair communication

questions need to be clear and easy to answer.

Answers: a.T5 b.T6 c.T1 d.T3 e.T2 f. T9 g. T8 h. T7 i. T4

NB: In general the best ways to correct are when the student has the chance to correct themself, with the teachers support.
Adapted from The CELTA Course, Thornbury and Watkins, CUP 2007

Using your fingers and gestures

You can use your fingers and gestures to indicate compound noun pronunciation (fingers together), missing or wrong words (point to the finger that represents that word), word order (cross your hands over, or twist your hand), tones (move your hand with finger pointed in the direction of the tone from the students viewpoint) and structures (point to the fingers that represent the parts of the structure in an example sentence) Important The aim is to not interrupt and to let the student self correct, so say as little as possible while using your gesture. Dont forget to only say yourself the words that were correct dont give them the correction. e.g. for a missing word, st rd th She ** a teacher , hold up 4 fingers and point to the 1 , 3 and 4 saying She a ___ teacher and give the student the chance to fill in the word. For tones, dont say the word, just use the gesture. You could say the sentence up to the point of the mistake and then use the gesture. Dont forget the positive feedback! Good communication Good effort Improvement Good language / pronunciation