Error Correction 1

Error Correction 1

When it comes to error correction we are dealing with one individual's reaction to a student's piece of writing or utterance. This inevitably means that there will be some disagreement among teachers about what, when,and how to correct.

Therefore the aim of this article is not to be prescriptive, but to highlight some key areas. It is in 2 parts. In the first part we look at ...

Attitudes to error correction

Categorising errors

A model for correcting writing

The role of planning

Practical techniques / ideas for correcting writing

 Attitudes to error correctionAttitudes to error correction vary not only among teachers but also among students. A teacher may be influenced by:

The fact that English is their second language and great emphasis was placed on correctness at their teacher training college.

The fact that as a native speaker they have never had to worry about their English.

A particular methodology / approach. In the 1960s a teacher using Audiolingualism would have adopted a behaviourist approach to error. More recently a teacher following the Natural Approach (influenced by second language acquisition theory) would have adopted a wholly different approach. Other methodologies / approaches, such as Suggestopaedia and Total Physical Response, highlight the psychological effects of error correction on students.

As for students, we not only have to consider their age but also theirapproach to learning. Some students are risk-takers, while others will onlysay something if they are sure it is correct. While being a risk-taker isgenerally positive as it leads to greater fluency, some students only seemto be concerned with fluency at the expense of accuracy. The same can be

true when it comes to writing. Some students take an eternity to produce apiece of writing as they are constantly rubbing out what they have writtenwhile at the opposite extreme the writing is done as fast as possiblewithout any planning or editing.

Categorising errors

We can categorise an error by the reason for its production or by itslinguistic type.

What's the reason for the error? o It is the result of a random guess (pre-systematic).o It was produced while testing out hypotheses (systematic).o It is a slip of the tongue, a lapse, a mistake (caused by

carelessness, fatigue etc.) (post-systematic).

To be sure about the type of error produced by a student we need to know where the student's interlanguage is (the language used by a student in theprocess of learning a second language).

What type is it?We can classify errors simply as productive (spoken or written) or receptive (faulty understanding). Alternatively we can use the following:

o A lexical error - vocabularyo A phonological error - pronunciationo A syntactic error- grammaro An interpretive error - misunderstanding of a speaker's intention

or meaningo A pragmatic error - failure to apply the rules of conversation

A model for correcting writingWhen writing we do not have the chance to rephrase or clarify what we are saying. Our message must be clear the first time. Written errors are also less tolerated than spoken errors outside the classroom.Look at this model for correcting written work and evaluate it for your teaching situation.

1. Comprehensibility o Can you understand the output?

o Are there areas of incoherence?o Do these affect the overall message?o Does communication break down?

2. Task o Has the student addressed the task?

3. Syntax and Lexis o Are they appropriate to the task?o Are they accurate?

The role of planning

Giving students time to plan not only results in a wider range of language being used, it also helps students to avoid some of the following:

Inappropriate layout No paragraphs Lack of cohesion Inappropriate style

Whichever style of plan (linear notes or a mind map) these questions will help students to plan their writing:

What am I going to write? (An informal letter etc.) What layout do I need? What information am I going to include? How many paragraphs do I need? What grammar / vocabulary am I going to use? What linking words (because, and etc.) am I going to use?

 Practical techniques / ideas for correcting writing

Training students to editEven though they have invested time in doing a writing task, students often don't spend a few more minutes checking their writing. The following activities not only help to develop students' editing skillsin a fun way, but also enable the teacher to focus on key errors without individual students losing face.

o Grammar auctions: (From Grammar Games by M.Rinvolucri CUP) Students receive a number of sentences taken from their written

work. Some are correct, some wrong. Students in groups have to try to buy the correct ones in the auction. They have a limited amount of money. The team with the most correct sentences wins.

o Mistakes mazes: (From Correction by Bartram and Walton Thomson Heinle). Students have a list of sentences. Their route through amaze depends on whether the sentences are right or wrong. They follow white arrows for correct sentences and black ones for incorrect ones. If they have identified all the sentences correctly they escape, if not they have to retrace their steps and find out where they went wrong.

Correction techniquesIt can be difficult to decide on what and how much to correct in a student's piece of writing. Students can develop a negative attitude towards writing because their teacher corrects all their errors or if the teacher only corrects a few, they might feel that the teacher hasn't spent sufficient time looking at their work. Evaluate the following techniques and decide which would be appropriate for your teaching situation. Underline inappropriate language in a piece of writing using a specific colour.

o Using a different colour from above, underline examples of appropriate language.

o Correct errors by writing the correct forms in their place.o Use codes in the margin to identify the type of error(s), for

example, VOC = a lexical error. Students have to identify the error(s) and if possible make a correction.

o Alternatively put crosses in the margin for the number of errors in each line. Students then try to identify the errors and make corrections.

o Put students into pairs / groups. They correct each other's work using one or more of the techniques above.

o From time to time give students an individual breakdown of recurring problems in their written work

Error Correction 2

As mentioned in Error Correction 1, students can differ greatly in their attitude to producing spoken English. Some are only interested in developing their fluency at the expense of accuracy while others are so focused on accuracy that they have no fluency.

While these are clearly extremes, it is not unusual to find students like this in a typical class. In Error Correction 2 we look at...

A basic approach to improving fluency and accuracy Dictogloss - A way of raising students' awareness of their inter-

language Criteria for dealing with spoken errors Practical techniques for correcting spoken English Further reading

A basic approach to improving fluency and accuracyIn contrast to writing, students have very little processing time when it comes to speaking, so it is hardly surprising that the following may occur.

Students don't experiment with new language presented by the teacher.

At lower levels students' output is mostly lexical.

The more accuracy-focused students test the patience of the listener in the time they take to say something.

The speech of some very fluent students is littered with errors and therefore may have a negative effect on the listener.

Just as with writing we can help students to improve their accuracy and fluency. Teachers can help students improve their fluency by giving guided preparation time for a task. Students receive specific guidance in choosingappropriate language as well as rehearsal time. Task-based learning research shows that this leads to a greater range of language being used.

When it comes to accuracy, research into second language acquisition says that the first stage of improving accuracy is awareness-raising. Namely, raising students' awareness of gaps in their inter-language. You can do this by using a recording of teachers / higher level students performing the same task that your students have done. Use awareness-raising exercisesto focus on specific linguistic areas in the recording.

Dictogloss - A way of raising students' awareness of their inter-languageDictogloss (see 'Grammar Dictation' by R.Wajnryb OUP) is a very effective technique for doing this. After an introduction to the subject and some pre-teaching of essential lexis, students are read a text twice. The first time they listen to get the gist of the text. The second time they have to note down the key words. Then, in groups they work together to produce a

version of the text. The emphasis is on successfully communicating the mainpoints using their English. If they can reproduce the original text, that is great, but it is not essential. The teacher and groups then correct their texts and compare them with the original. The aim is to make studentsaware of the gaps in their inter-language.

Criteria for dealing with spoken errorsIn 'Correction' by M.Bartram and R.Walton, these questions are presented asa guide to deciding whether to let an error go or not. Which do you consider to be the most important?

1. Does the mistake affect communication?2. Are we concentrating on accuracy at the moment?3. Is it really wrong? Or is it my imagination?4. Why did the student make the mistake?5. Is it the first time the student has spoken for a long time?6. Could the student react badly to my correction?7. Have they met this language point in the current lesson?8. Is it something the students have already met?9. Is this a mistake that several students are making?10. Would the mistake irritate someone?11. What time is it?12. What day is it?13. What's the weather like?

Practical techniques / ideas for correcting spoken English

On-the-spot correction techniques.These are used for dealing with errors as they occur.

o Using fingers For example, to highlight an incorrect form or to indicate a wordorder mistake.

o GesturesFor example, using hand gestures to indicate the use of the wrongtense.

o MouthingThis is useful with pronunciation errors. The teacher mouths the correct pronunciation without making a sound. For example, when an individual sound is mispronounced or when the word stress is wrong. Of course it can also be used to correct other spoken errors.

o ReformulationFor example: Student: I went in ScotlandTeacher: Oh really, you went to Scotland, did you?

Delayed Correction techniques - For example, after a communication activity.

o Noting down errorsEither on an individual basis i.e. focusing on each student's mistakes or for the class as a whole. 'Hot cards', as Bartram andWalton call individual notes, can be used to focus on recurring mistakes. The student then has a written suggestion of what to work on.

o RecordingIn addition to recording students (individually, in pairs etc.) during a speaking task to make them aware of errors that affect communication we can use a technique from Community Language Learning. Students sit in a circle with a tape recorder in the centre. In monolingual classes they check with the teacher, who is bilingual, about how to say something in English, then rehearse it and record it. At the end of the lesson they listen back to the tape and can focus on specific utterances etc. With higher level multilingual classes students take part in a discussion which they have prepared for in advance. When they have something to say they record themselves and then pause the tape. Just as with monolingual classes they can use the teacher as a linguistic resource. At the end of the discussion students

analyse their performance with the teacher. The focus is on improving the quality of what they say and expanding their inter-language. Although this form of discussion may seem a bit artificial it has two main advantages:

Students pay more attention to what they say as they are taking part in a kind of performance (it is being recorded)

Students not only become more aware of gaps in their spoken English but also can see how their spoken English is improving.

Delta Notes 1: Error   Correction

This Delta Notes series has come about because I am packing up all my stuff to move out of my flatand have found my Delta notebooks. I don’t want to put them in a box (got plenty to store as it isplus it’s pointless…) and let them gather dust, so thought I’d write up the notes I’m interested inkeeping and get rid of the notebooks instead! I will also add some reflections at the end of each set ofnotes. Feel free to share opinions, add ideas, argue against any ideas you disagree with etc bycommenting using the comment box beneath the posts. (These are just some of my notes from Deltainput sessions – I may have misunderstood or missed something: there was a lot of information flyingaround that semester!)

Errors are evidence of learner development and are made for a variety of reasons. They are something we, as teachers, have to deal with on a regularbasis. To do this effectively, it helps to have a clear understanding of why errors might be made and what can be done with them.

If a learner makes a slip, they have the requisite knowledge, e.g. that in the third person present simple, we add –s or –es, but do not produce the item correctly. In this case, they are likely to be able to self-correct quickly. Errors can also provide evidence of learners’ systems – if a learner produces the same error consistently, it is systematic. Learners may also make attempts to say something that they have not learnt how to say, and not quite manage. This provides information about what they are ready for – what they can do and what gaps there are in their knowledge.

From the teacher’s point of view, some errors are covert i.e. learners produce something correct but it wasn’t what they wanted to say and this isn’t obvious to the teacher, while some are overt, i.e. obvious.

Errors can be caused by incorrect L1 transfer. However, it is worth remembering that transfer can often also be positive. Errors can also be

intra-lingual, developmental and systematic. These refer to learners’ current awareness of the language and can be a result of over-generalisation or incomplete application of rules. They could also be a result of mis-teaching, where there is lack of clarity, or over-teaching, where some language feature, e.g. –ing, gets stuck in their head!

A breakdown of different types of errors:

Pronunciation

Suprasegmental – word or sentence level mistakes e.g. incorrect intonation or stress.

Segmental – sound-level mistakes e.g. mixing up consonant sounds /p/ and /b/

Combinatorial – mistakes relating to how sounds are linked e.g. producing consonant clusters incorrectly.

Lexical

Incorrect selection of a word/phrase Inventing a word/phrase Transferring words/phrases from L1 incorrectly Distortions of words e.g. kitchen v chicken

  Semantic

Words could be too specific or too general for a given purpose Use of a superordinate instead of a more appropriate hyponym Use of the wrong collocation Production of an incorrect form Wrong level of formality Unintended connotation

Grammatical

Covert: a correct form but not the intended form Morphological (but this can be a pronunciation error rather than a

grammatical error e.g. not pronouncing the final ‘s’ rather than not using plural)

Syntax

Pragmatics

Confusion regarding function e.g. Is this ‘Can’ for ability or request– requires interpretation of language in context.

Literal meaning could be different from use e.g. “It’s cold in here” literally means the temperature in here is quite low, but it can be used as a request to close a window/put on a heater etc

Taboo subjects

Receptive errors

Learners may mis-process input and give the wrong response.

How can we deal with learner errors?

If they are overt, we can deal with them instantly or wait till a more appropriate moment.

If we decide to deal with learner errors instantly, how can we go about this?

 This very much depends on the error type and on various contextual factors(what learners are used to, the focus of the lesson phase, how much time isavailable etc)

One way of dealing with errors

Ask for repetition: this signals you aren’t sure of what the learner has said and gives them the opportunity to self-correct if it is a slip. It also gives you thinking time! (I.e. time to decide how to deal with the error)

Ask for self-correction: learners may have missed your previous cue or attempted to self-correct but not corrected the error.

Ask the rest of the class to try and help: this engages all learners in what started as a one-to-one interaction and maximizes on the different developmental stages and sub-levels that are present within a single class.

If nobody can help: either give up and provide the answer or give prompts that may help learners to reach the answer. (Worth remembering that you can’t elicit what learners don’t know and considering whether the benefits of laboring over a particular error balance out the amount of time spent.)

If somebody can help: Ask them to repeat their correct form. Get everyone to say the correct form. Then ask the learner who originally made the errorto repeat the correct utterance – this reinstates the class as it was, but with the correct form. (Very often, there is no need for a “teacher model”, except for pronunciation – and even with pronunciation, learners will often repeat better from a learner model.)

 It is important to show awareness of errors: If you are not correcting errors, it is important to be explicit about why you are not correcting errors. This might relate to the focus of the lesson phase (i.e. you might be focusing on fluency development and so may be less worried about accuracy at that point) or your plan (i.e. you might plan to do a delayed error correction feedback phase after an activity rather than correct during the activity). However, it is also very important to respond to whatlearners say, not only focus on how they are saying it.

When a learner produces language, ask yourself:

Is this adequate? Can I get more? Do I want more?

Here are some of my reflections on error correction:

Error correction is, I think, one of the minefields of ELT. Learners desperately want it, and may feel they are being short-changed if it doesn’t happen. Teachers may have good reasons for not doing it, or may be doing it in such a way that learners are not explicitly aware that they arebeing corrected. Teachers might also get into the habit of always using thesame narrow selection of error correction techniques, which may not be effective for some of the learners in the class. Of course, what constitutes effective is another can of worms! I think there’s a lot to be said for variety and experimentation, where error correction technique is concerned: Different techniques will be better suited to certain error types, different learner preferences and so on. Experimentation – and, of course, post-lesson reflection on this experimentation – can enable a teacher to build up a range of techniques that he or she will be able to draw on when the need arises.

(For this, I recommend having a look at Classroom Management Techniques by Jim Scrivener, which contains many practical ideas, and the reasoning behind them, to try out: Though it is not specifically about error correction, there is a useful chapter on eliciting (p139 -145), which is applicable. Also have a look at his Learning Teaching book, specifically chapter 14 “Toolkit 2: focusing on language 1. Error Correction” p298 -302. (NB link and page numbers refer to second edition, which I have, but I gather there is a third one now…) Finally, there is a very good chapter in Harmer’s The Practice of English Language Teaching, Chapter 8: “Mistakes and Feedback” p137-152, which I’d recommend reading. In terms of the Delta, as far as I understand it, you are supposed to try and demonstrate that you are able to draw on a wide range of techniques, within an assessed lesson, so all the more reason to have a read and get experimenting if you are a Delta trainee – or a prospective one!)

Errors can be a great source of further learning, but only if they are usedas such. For example, if you are doing whole class feedback on a listening exercise, and a learner provides an incorrect answer, merely providing the correct answer will probably  not result in much learning. However, if you involve other learners and explore the cause of the misunderstanding, then learning opportunities increase. Some errors may, of course, not be worth spending too much class time on – this comes down to teacher judgement and may be influenced by factors such as the aim of the activity, how it fits into the sequence of activities that make up the lesson, whether you think the error is something that learners should already know/be able to producecorrectly and so on.

Finally, I think it can be valuable to involve learners in negotiating how and when error correction should take place. For example, if you are going

to do a speaking activity, ask them if they want to be corrected during theactivity or to be given feedback once they have finished speaking. Depending on the activity goal, your preference may be the former or the latter, the learners may (think they) want the opposite. Correct those learners who request it while they speak, correct those who request delayedfeedback when they have finished, then once the activity has been completedand all feedback given, briefly discuss the pros and cons of each method with them. Elicit their ideas before giving yours, and explain your choice of method isn’t arbitrary but based on what you think will benefit them themost for any given activity. When you experiment with new techniques, involve the learners by explaining what you are doing and asking for their feedback afterwards. Hopefully this kind of discussion and learner involvement will also increase learners’ trust in you, and what you are doing with them, as well as giving you extra evidence to reflect on after the lesson.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: SPEAKING CORRECTION TECHNIQUES

Introduction

Everyone makes mistakes, even speakers using their own language when they are hurried, ‘lost for words’, or forced into inappropriate language by a difficult or unusual situation. It is hardly surprising, then, that language learners make mistakes, given the difficulty of the task of comprehending, processing the content of the message and knowledge of the target language, and coming out with a response that is both grammatically correct and appropriate to the situation.

It is generally agreed that correction is part of the teaching/learning process, but that over-correction and poor correction techniques can be demotivating for the learner and may lead to a reluctance to try out new language or even to speak at all. Teachers need to make informed decisions about what, when and how to correct in order to help learners improve theirspeaking skills without damaging their confidence. The following are important points to consider:

Mistakes and errors

Errors are produced as a result of the lack or misinterpretation of knowledge, which, in turn, may be a product of the learner’s stage of language development, or inadequate teaching or learning. Errors cannot be corrected and need to be dealt with by teaching or reteaching. Errors are often noticed in less-guided practice activities when the same error is made by a number of learners, leading the teacher to realize that something

has gone wrong in earlier stages of the teaching/learning process. Mistakes, on the other hand, are products of the learner’s efforts to produce language despite prior knowledge. They may be due a variety of factors including over-enthusiasm, over-generalization of rules, interference from the mother tongue, and once the cause has been established, can be dealt with by a number of correction techniques.

Accuracy and fluency

Mistakes are usually corrected immediately when the aim of the stage of thelesson is to promote accuracy, particularly during the drilling of the target language and during guided practice. Attention to mistakes in these stages improves the chances of correct use of language later, while mistakes made during less-guided practice often indicate that the teacher has not dealt effectively with mistakes at the accuracy stage. When the aimis fluency, however, less intrusive, ‘gentle’ or delayed correction techniques are required in order not to damage either the flow of the activity or the confidence of the learners.

Interlanguage

In the process of acquiring the language, a learner may acquire forms of language that are in between their first language and their target language. This is their ‘interlanguage’, and is a product of incorrect application of rules, incomplete knowledge, and comparison between two (or more) languages. Interlanguage may seem completely logical and correct in the mind of the learner and may also be a part of a natural learning process where rules get more refined as more input is received. This leads to the belief that mistakes are a healthy part of language learning and should not be dealt with too severely. However, if learners are not corrected, mistakes in their interlanguage may ‘fossilise’ and become permanent.

Good learners

Oddly, ‘good’ learners often make more mistakes than others. This tends to be because they have more confidence, produce more language and are highly motivated to speak. Good learners are also ‘hypothesis testers’ in that that they can formulate and try out rules of their own, and ‘risk takers’ in that they are prepared to ‘have a go’. These learners need to be encouraged, and are often capable of self-correction.

Teachers need to consider the above, get to know their learners and their learning backgrounds, develop an attitude to correction and be equipped with a variety of correction techniques which are appropriate to a variety

of learner types and learning situations. Bearing this in mind, we suggest some activities that teachers might like to try in their classrooms.

ERROR CORRECTION: WHERE, WHEN AND HOW

Inherent in the profession of teaching is the need to make corrections, but teachers are often unsure as to howmuch to correct, or even how to go about it. Marguerite is worried about how she is to deal with error correctionwith her beginning Spanish classes. She wants to correct her students and thereby improve the quality of their language, but is afraid that if she corrects the studentstoo much, they will become discouraged and stop taking risks in the language.

What does the process of error correction consist of?

Error correction sequences consists of four steps:

1. A student error2. The teacher’s feedback which may take the form of explicit correction,

recast, clarification request, metalinguistic feedback, elicitation orerror correction

3. The student’s response, which may or may not still need repair4. Reinforcement of a correct response by the teacher (on occasion)

Students respond more successfully when the correct form is not supplied for them and there is negotiation of form  ie: with clarification requests,metalinguistic feedback, elicitation or error repetition

What is the difference between intake and uptake?

Intake occurs during the process of Giving It and Getting It, where students are taking in new information and processing it.

Uptake occurs during the Using It stage and describes the process of students retrieving information that is already part of their consciousness. It describes the learners’ responses to the teacher's feedback following either an erroneous utterance or a query about a linguistic item. Some researchers argue that uptake may contribute to second language acquisition by facilitating noticing and pushing learners to produce more accurate linguistic forms.

What is the difference between a Recast and a Repair?

A  Recast is what the teacher says with the purpose of helping a student notice his or her mistakes and repair it on his or her own. Several different types of recasts are listed below. A Repair is the student’s correction after the recast.

What are the types of recasts a teacher can use?

Explicit recast – this recast is clear and very direct on what has to be corrected; ithelps the student notice one thing in particular which needs to be correctedImplicit recast – this recast is more subtle and often employs gestures. Itsuggests to the students that there is something to correct rather than direcingt the student to the error immediately

Short recast – this type of recast refers only to the length of the recast,so that only a short cue is givenLong recast – this is a longer length of recast,  like a longer cue or perhaps an explanation

Pronunciation recast – this type of recast focuses on what aspect of the sentence needs to be corrected, in this case the pronunciationGrammar recast – this type of recast tells the student that an aspect of grammar must be correctedVocabulary recast – this type of recast tells the students that an aspect of vocabulary must be corrected

Substitution request/recast – this type of recast lets the student know that a particular aspect of the sentence needs to changed to something else

Addition request/recast – this type of recast lets the student know that something needs to be added to the sentence

Declarative recast – this type of recast is delivered in sentence form, stating that something is wrong in the student’s sentence ie: “the tense iswrong”Interrogative recast – this type of recast is delivered in question form, whether restating the sentence as a question, or asking the student dorectly what is wrong with the sentence

One repair needed recast – this type of recast demonstrates that there is only one repair to be made Multiple repairs needed recast – this type of recast demonstrates that there is more than one repair to be made

Clarification requests – this type of request forces the student to think about, make changes if necessary and repeat their answer, ie: “Pardon?”Metalinguistics feedback – this type of recast shows the students or forcesthem to think about why something in the language functions the way that itdoes, ie: “Is that how you would say it in English?”

Elicitation – this type of recast tries to get the students to give you what you are looking for in an answer (specific answer)Error repetition – this type of recast involves repeating the mistake the way that the student said it

These recasts are not always used individually; quite often, a recast can belong to several categories at the same time. For example, a grammar recast can also be a long recast as well as a substitution recast. Or, an elicitation recast can be a vocabulary recast as well as an interrogative recast.

GIVING IMMEDIATE CORRECTION TO ESL STUDENTS’ SPOKEN ERRORS

In my last post, I wrote that I normally focus on errors which are:

common to several learners; or repeated (by one or more students); and either involve language our students should already be familiar with;

or are at a level just beyond that of our students (to help them expand

their range of vocabulary or enhance their grammatical competence a little).

Over the next few posts, I’ll go into a little more detail about when mightbe a good idea to correct students’ mistakes, and look at some different ways of correcting them. Hopefully, these notes will be of some use to lessexperienced teachers or those who have yet to get a CELTA or equivalent qualification.

When might we shy away from correcting student errors?I’ve listed some possible answers below. Whilst you look through them, you might want to ask yourself which you consider to be good reasons not to correct.

when the teacher’s involvement would interrupt the flow of a group activity or pairwork

when correcting the error is significantly beyond the student’s current capabilities in English, or involves a grasp of the language they are not yet close to achieving

when the error was a slip of the tongue when your student’s mistake shows they don’t understand a language

point you have planned to work on another day when the focus of the lesson is on listening or reading comprehension,

not on accuracy in spoken English when the error is fossilised, your student is aware of the problem,

and drawing attention to it would only frustrate them because correcting spoken English just doesn’t seem right

because we are worried that correcting a student’s spoken errors in front of their peers will knock their confidence

when we lack confidence in our own grammatical knowledge and competence, and fear being found out

because we are tired that day and don’t want to take on the responsibility of correction

Obviously the last two reasons seem more like excuses. Native teachers who worry that their explicit knowledge of English isn’t up to scratch are probably more concerned about saying why a student’s utterance is an error than that they won’t notice the mistake in the first place; and it’s important to realise that (1) you often don’t have to say why something is wrong, as long as you help your students improve (see below); and (2) your explicit knowledge of English grammar will dramatically increase even just by reading through the grammar explanations in your students’ coursebooks. Discovering that you may well not be required to provide an explanation foran error should reduce stress, and this should make it less worrying to give correction even if you’re tired. Non-native teachers often have a great deal of know-how (both of the structure of English and of methods that helped them learn the language) which they can share with their students; they can also help their students conduct their own investigations into what is and isn’t natural English, when they are not sure.

Returning to the list, my hunch is the vague sense that it isn’t nice to correct mistakes often rests on a fear of damaging students’ confidence, oradversely affecting the relationship between teacher and students; yet, in my experience, those who test their hypotheses and give correction a try almost certainly find the opposite is true. Most students seem glad of correction, as long as it is constructive and considerately given; and it is difficult to see how a student can learn a language if they are not given the chance to learn from their mistakes. The other points on the listseem like good reasons – there are many times in a lesson when there is no need to give correction, or even when it would be inappropriate to do so.

When might it be good not to accompany a correction with an explanation of why the original sentence is ungrammatical or unnatural-sounding?

When the explanation unnecessarily slows down the lesson when it involves more sophisticated language use than your students

are ready for when the explanation is irrelevant to the lesson’s shape and flow when there is, or seems to be, no good structural reason why a

sentence sounds wrong, other than that we don’t happen to say it (“he

was at trouble” rather than “in trouble”, “she was having a roll” instead of “she was on a roll”, etc)

when there is no common agreement as to the reason why something is wrong

when we just don’t know, or can’t remember, why something is a mistake(in which case a good and obvious thing to do is simply to tell our students we’ll look it up and tell them in their next English lesson, make a note of the error, and then actually do this)

What options do we have when correcting spoken English?Our first choice is when to correct: either there and then (immediate correction) or after a speaking activity has finished (delayed correction).On teacher training courses, we’re often told that immediate correction is best during activities that focus on accuracy of spoken production (for example, practice using the present perfect to talk about events in your life up til now), while we should delay correction if focussing on oral fluency. This seems a good general rule of thumb, but there are some caveats. It often seems that accuracy- and fluency-work go hand in hand (inthe example above, your students’ talk about events in their life appears naturally to invite questions and conversation from their partners) and, ifyour students seem to understand what each other means, and if an interruption would stem the flow of useful conversation, it might still be better to note down errors for whole-class feedback after the activity’s end, perhaps then reprising the activity with different partners for further practice. Sometimes, you may want only to offer immediate correction to students who are addressing you, either individually or in orafter a whole-class discussion. Even then, so as not to overwhelm your students, demotivate them, or upset the focus of the class, you may want only to immediately correct:

pronunciation errors; mistakes in the target language (say, we’ve been looking at uses of

the past perfect, and a student makes an error related to these uses in conversation with other students or with me); or

errors which make it difficult for me to understand what the student means.

Otherwise, you can note down the mistakes you hear for feedback later on.

Is there a structure to giving immediate correction?The standard blueprint seems to be: (1) see if the student can correct their own mistake; (2) invite other students to try and correct it; and

only if neither succeeds, (3) correct the mistake yourself, at which point you might want to write the corrected sentence on the board for reinforcement, and even drill it if necessary. Again, there are reservations – before you read on, you might want to consider what these could be.

Some problems with the above structure are:

1. timing

It is generally a lot quicker just to give the correction yourself.

2. student expectations

In many (most?) learning cultures, the language teacher is expected to telltheir students not just that they have gone wrong and where the mistake is, but also to correct it for them.

3. student inaccuracy and the danger of reinforcing errors

Your students may get their correction wrong, which could lead to confusionor even reinforcement of the incorrect sentence in your students’ minds.

4. performance pressure

If your students are not comfortable with each other, or if they find the classroom interactions stressful, the act of giving correction (or of beingpublicly corrected) may be a high-pressure one for them, which could be demotivating as well as lead to further inaccuracies. However, the activities here and here should help overcome this problem.

But the advantages of this student –> peers –> teacher structure of error correction are clear, as are the disadvantages of the teacher simply correcting any mistakes they hear: by encouraging your students to self-correct or to correct each other, you are inviting them to monitor their own language, to think for themselves and become more independent language users, and to use and trust in their existing linguistic resources. Sometimes this is not so important (for instance, when you’re in conversation with a student at the start of a lesson, as you wait for late arrivals); however, in general, I suggest it will be important to your students’ development both inside and outside the classroom to encourage a reflective, critical, experimental and confident attitude to their second language development, and hopefully more generally.

When and how can we give immediate correction?

If we want to involve our students in the correction process, we need to show they have made a mistake; we may also need to indicate where in the sentence the mistake was made, and perhaps what kind of mistake it is. Somecommon ways you can signal these things are:

through facial expression by gesturing a student to stop speaking for a moment by a question (“what was that?”, “sorry?”, …) by echoing what the student said, with an upward inflection where the

problem is by repeating the student’s sentence only up until the mistake was made through a verbal gapfill (you echo what they said, but pause or say

“mmmm” where they have made a mistake) by pointing out the type of mistake they have made (“third person

singular?”) by using prompt words (“tense?”, “preposition?”) using a finger for each word in the incorrect sentence, saying each

word and showing which finger corresponds to the error if it’s a pronunciation mistake, through pointing to the correct

phoneme on the phonetic chart and saying the mistake with rising intonation (“I sailed on asheep?”)

by showing, with your fingers, that two words in the sentence are the wrong way round

Vary the way you give immediate correction to keep it fresh, and remember not to try and correct every spoken error you hear.

WHAT CAUSES ESL STUDENTS TO MAKE SPEAKING AND WRITING ERRORS?

Students make several different kinds of mistake when speaking or writing. These could be:

lexical (vocabulary errors, in which I would include problems with prepositions)

grammatical (problems with structure or form, misuse of articles) problems of appropriacy (the language is correct, but inappropriate in

context – perhaps too formal, or too rude).

When speaking, students may also make pronunciation errors (unconnected speech, failing to distinguish between long and short sounds, etc.). When writing, there may also be problems with spelling, punctuation, textual cohesion and structure (such as in newspaper articles, essays or stories), and layout (for example, of formal letters to British companies, or CVs).

We can separate these errors into two basic categories:

those caused by lack of understanding (your student cannot correct their mistake, even if they look back at their notes or coursebook); and

performative errors (in feedback, your student can self-correct, perhaps with a little prompting from others – they know the language, they just forgot to use it, for whatever reason).

But what causes these errors, and what can you do about them? Let’s look atboth categories a little more closely.

1. Errors caused by lack of understanding – symptom: you cannot elicit a correction from your student.

Some possible causes:

The student is not ready to produce the linguistic construction at their level. For example, beginning students unable to correctly formulate a sentence with the past perfect. Signs: you cannot elicit acorrection from your student, and this is not due to translation mistakes (see below). Correcting errors of this kind would usually be a frustrating and largely pointless exercise, for you and your student.

The language is too new. You have just taught some new construction and your students are failing to produce it accurately. This suggests you should either re-teach the construction or allow your students to

do some more controlled practice in pairs, looking at the rules or patterns you have given and discussing which answers are correct, before you move on to freer production work.

Over-generalisation. For instance, you recently taught “going to” for future arrangements and overhear a student say “I’m going to live in London when I stop work” (“I’d like to” or “I want to” might be betterhere). By all means, point out the limits of “going to” in describing future plans, but don’t worry: you can’t teach all future forms at once; and this kind of developmental error can be ironed out over time.

Bad models. Your students will hear “incorrect” English all the time –from the TV, in conversation, from some non-native English teachers, from adverts (for example, “less emissions” in the new Fiat advert on British TV) and, of course, from native speakers. You may wish to correct your students when they make these kinds of mistakes (for example, you’ve just taught when we use “fewer”, or their meaning is unclear). However, if it is obvious what they mean, or if the “incorrect” form seems to be becoming part of the language (“I’m loving it”), you may wish to ignore it, or highlight potential difficulties with the construction and move on.

First language interference. These could be grammatical (for example, your Japanese student says, “I went to cinema yesterday” [Japanese does not have articles]), vocabulary errors (a German student who asksto borrow your “handy” instead of “(mobile) phone”), pronunciation mistakes (“ship” and “sheep” for Romance language speakers is a famousexample), punctuation errors (e.g.,when we use semi-colons in English), or problems of register (such as a Portuguese student being over-effusive in a formal business letter). These errors tend to take much effort to erase, and often may never be fully overcome. How much this matters is up for debate.

2. Performative errors – symptom: your student, or the class as a whole, can correct their mistake in feedback.

Some possible causes:

Slips of the tongue. Sometimes a word or sentence just comes out wrong. Normally, a student will correct themselves when they make thiskind of error, but they might not notice it. It is only worth picking up on if you are not sure whether it is a fossilised mistake (see below), or a genuine linguistic confusion, rather than just a blip.

Performance pressure. Many students are nervous about talking in public, or speaking or writing in a foreign language. This can lead toerror. You can minimise the chances of this happening, and encourage

enjoyment in using English, through more pairwork, through activities designed to “break the ice” and bring students together (I have some examples here and here), by playing background music the students findrelaxing during conversational activities, by personalising writing activities and praising your students’ work, and so on.

Forgetfulness. You taught some language to do with preparing a meal yesterday, and now some of your students don’t seem to remember half of it. This is not necessarily a problem: it would be unrealistic to expect your students to remember everything you teach them! If your students are regularly forgetting a lot of the vocabulary you teach them, it might be worthwhile devoting lesson time to discussing memorisation techniques, vocabulary book organisation, and how best (and how often) to review new language items. You should also consideryour own approach to vocabulary teaching: are you recycling the language enough (in his book, How To Teach Vocabulary, Scott Thornburysuggests students need to reuse linguistic items at least 6 or 7 times, in different contexts, for them to have a good chance of “sticking”)? Are you helping make the vocabulary items memorable (suchas by encouraging your students to make strong audio-visual mental images to go with them)? Are you presenting too much new vocabulary (the average person can only remember 6 or 7 discrete items at a time)? Is your new language personalised and contextualised (thereforemaking it easier to remember)?

Tiredness. It’s much more difficult to recall language items when you’re half-asleep, or exhausted after a long day. Make allowances foryour students; and, if it’s a regular problem, I suggest discussing the situation with them and finding out if there’s anything they (or you) can do to alleviate this quite common problem.

Fossilisation. Through habit, a student repeatedly makes a particular mistake no matter how often you correct them. This becomes a particularly noticeable problem with intermediate students onwards andis often immensely frustrating for them: the mistake is associated with lower-level learners; the student can immediately correct it; andyet they keep making it when speaking or writing, as soon as they relax into conversation or what they’re writing about. Behavioural conditioning seems to be the best way to go about overcoming fossilised mistakes – for instance, you might draw an “S” on the palm of your hand, which you wave at a high-level student every time they omit third person -s from their verbs (make sure you get their agreement to do this beforehand!). However, this kind of error is often deeply ingrained and it can take a lot of time (perhaps eternity) to sort out. With this type of mistake, as long as the student is aware of it, it’s usually best not to draw too much

attention to it, but to work at the problem gradually and in a relaxed, gentle way.

We have seen a number of kinds of mistake students make, and I have suggested some ways of approaching them. But in the chaos of a classroom, with a number of students (perhaps from different countries) all speaking at once, there are only so many errors it would be possible or useful to pick up on. So when should we correct our students’ errors, and which errors should we choose to concentrate on in class?

I always listen or look for errors which are:

common to several learners; or repeated (by one or more students); and either involve language my students should already be familiar with;

or are at a level just beyond that of my students (to help them expand

their range of vocabulary or enhance their grammatical competence a little).

GIVING DELAYED CORRECTION IN THE ESL CLASSROOM

Way 1: boarding errors and good sentencesThe commonest way of giving delayed correction seems to be to (1) set up a speaking activity in such a way that you can easily move between the different groups of students; (2) unobtrusively monitor your students’ spoken language, writing down good sentences you hear and others which sound wrong or unnatural; (3) board the sentences; and (4) when the speaking activity has finished, invite your students (in pairs or small groups) to decide together which sentences need to be changed and how to change them. After a few minutes, go through the sentences with your class,eliciting corrections and drilling as necessary.

One potential problem with this approach is that, if you keep giving error correction in this way, the process quickly becomes stale. You can vary your feedback in various ways:

1. by turning delayed feedback into a competition

As long as your students don’t take it too seriously, this can be a good way of enlivening the feedback task. You could number each of the sentencesand call out the numbers randomly, inviting students from different groups to shout “yes!” if they want to either correct it or confirm it’s already correct. 1 point for a good answer, -1 for an incorrect one.

2. by betting on sentences

In between lessons, type up and print out the sentences in a table like theone below. In your next class, divide your students into small groups or pairs, allocate each group an imaginary £1,000 and ask them to work throughthe sentences, correcting mistakes or ticking good sentences. Make sure they bet a certain amount of their money on each of their corrected or ticked sentences, and that they “spend” the entire £1,000. Explain that, for each sentence they get right (either successfully correct or tick if itwas already correct), they will win double what they bet; if they are wrong, they lose what they bet. Ask the groups to swap papers, then go through the sentences with the class, eliciting corrections as necessary and ensuring your students tot up the money won and lost as the feedback proceeds. The group with the most money at the end is the winner (you may want to give them a small prize, like a paperclip or a sweet). I find giving feedback in this way helps certain classes (especially younger teenagers) focus more on error correction, and get more involved with uncovering various acceptable versions of the same sentence.

3. by setting up a sentence auction

As above, divide your students into groups and allocate each an imaginary sum of money. This time, board the total each group has, as you’ll need to keep track of how much they’re spending. Ask your students to decide in their groups which sentences need to be changed and which are OK, but not to tell any other group. Then ask them to decide together which sentences they want to “buy” and how much to spend on each one. Finally, assume the role of an auctioneer, soliciting offers from each group until a sentence is “sold”. Board how much the winning group spent on each sentence and subtract this from their total money (also on the board). Finally, elicit corrections from each group: if they are correct, they get to keep their sentence, otherwise it becomes yours. The group with the most sentences at the end is the winner.

4. as a mingling exercise

Write each sentence onto a different scrap of paper, then give each studenta different sentence. Ask them to mingle and help each other correct mistakes and decide which sentences are well-formed. Finally, go through the sentences together as a class, boarding and drilling as necessary.

5. as a group discussion

As above, write each sentence onto a different scrap of paper. Divide your class into small groups and give a roughly equal number of sentences to each; then ask your groups to correct mistakes and tick well-formed sentences (they can write on the paper). They can then swap papers with another group and check to see if they want to make any other changes, theneither form new groups and discuss any changes or simply swap papers again and repeat. The last stage is whole-class feedback, wherein you go through the sentences and elicit various possible corrections to them. This can be a good way of eliciting different correct formulations of the same idea, although it can also be overkill.

6. as a dictation exercise

Dictate the sentences you’ve written down, telling your students that some of the sentences you’ll say will be wrong and asking them only to write what they think is the correct version. They can then check their sentenceswith a partner, and then you can elicit their corrections and board and discuss them. An advantage here is that there is less chance of reinforcingerrors; you are also inviting all of your students to use their own linguistic resources to judge when a mistake has been made and how to correct it, as well as testing their listening skills and ensuring they have a written record of the corrected sentences.

Way 2: focussing on building lexisSome advantages of the methods of giving delayed correction, above, are that the language is authentic (it comes from your students), the activity is student-focussed (because you are helping them correct their errors), you are encouraging them (to an extent) to rely on their own lexical and grammatical resources, and you are helping to extend those resources through whole-class feedback at the end. You are also encouraging your class to work together in a positive way, hopefully strengthening the ties between them and increasing their confidence in one another.

Some disadvantages with Way 1 are: the sentences can be disorganised (though perhaps you could group them together into different kinds as you board them – prepositions, articles, tense, etc.); the incorrect sentences may reinforce students’ errors (the likelihood of this is debatable, however, and if you dictate the sentences you will lower the chances of error-reinforcement); your students may recognise their mistakes, which could demotivate them (again, whether this would happen depends on your students’ personalities and expectations); and, by focussing on language your students have already produced, you may not be extending their grammatical knowledge or lexis.

Another approach to delayed error correction, which attempts to avoid the above pitfalls, turns delayed feedback into a gapfill activity. As you monitor your students’ spoken language, listen out for what they could havesaid as much as what they did say. For example, consider the following sentences, from an advanced level English class:

1. I went to Camden market on Saturday.2. I was reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It’s really good.3. I had a really nice dinner with my friend.

There’s nothing wrong with these sentences; however, they are not very linguistically adventurous; and advanced students could do a lot more with the language.One way of encouraging experimentation and linguistic invention would be toset the feedback up as a gapfill – board or dictate the following sentences(agreeing beforehand some verbal marker for “_______” with your students):

1. I strolled/ wandered _______ Camden market on Saturday.2. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a great read. I couldn’t put it

_______!3. I had a _______ dinner with my friend last night.

Your students could then work in pairs or on their own to fill in the gaps as best they can, then compare in larger groups before getting feedback from the whole class. Note that the final gapfill could be either positive or negative. If you board the sentences with gaps, you might want to indicate that a positive adjective is missing (e.g., with a “+” below the gap); however, leaving the gap unmarked could be more fun, and allows for more possibilities.

As above, you could organise these sentences into kinds before you dictate or board them: for example, prepositions and adverbs (“she came down to see me”, “at last, we set off“, etc.), fixed- or semi-fixed expressions (“[subject + form of ‘have’] a whale of a time” or “a/an absolute/total/complete mess”), and so on.

What could be the advantages of this approach? As above, the sentences are focussed on your students and what they want to do with the language, and you are testing their existing linguistic resources and strengthening classbonds by asking them to work together to complete the sentences. However, by turning the delayed feedback into a gapfill based on what your students could have said (as well as by boarding corrected versions of their mistaken sentences, with gaps where the mistakes would go), you are also helping them extend their lexical range; you also make it less likely that

students will recognise that they made an error while expressing an idea, so your focus stays positive (which can itself be motivating).

What to do after you’ve given correction?There is little point in giving delayed correction unless your students (1)note down the corrected or new language; and (2) use it.

You could recycle the language in various ways. Some potential activities are: repeating the speaking activity with a new partner or group, this timeasking your students to incorporate some of the boarded or noted language in their answers; using your sentences to make questions (you could ask your students to do this, or you could do it yourself) or personalise the sentences for your students (e.g., “write down what you think is the best place in London to stroll around; write the name of a book you couldn’t putdown; write down the time when you had the best/worst meal of your life. Now tell your partner about what you wrote, saying why you wrote it”); setting a writing or role-play task whereby your students have to incorporate 5 or so expressions from the board into their work in a naturalway. If you don’t have time to do this in class, you could set a writing (or conversational) task for homework, asking your students to use some of the corrected or new sentences in their work.