ERROR CORRECTION

Error vs Mistake

How to respond

• calm• consistent• brief• and respectful

Procedure

• Draw attention• Focus on the error• Lead to self reflect

WHAT TO BE CORRECTED

• Oral Work• Written Works

Techniques for ORAL WORK CORRECTION

 Correction Strategy

 

 Description Advantages Disadvnta

 Using terminology 

Teacher says something like, ‘grammar’, ‘tense’, ‘past or present?’

 Finger correction 

Teacher uses fingers to indicate the position of the error.

 Partial repetition 

Teacher repeats sentence until the point of the error.

 Teacher asks a question 

 ‘Last week?’

 Reformulation 

 ‘Ah…you saw a great film?’

 Delayed correction 

Teacher waits until the speaking activity has finished, then corrects.

 Body language 

Teacher uses facial expression or gesture to indicate that there is an error.

I see a great film Last night

Written Works

• WHAT SHOULD FEEDBACK BE MAINLY ON: LANGUAGE? CONTENT? ORGANIZATION?

The main aim is to correct language mistakes – the problem is how to do so without conveying that this is the only basis for evaluation for a piece of writing. One possibility is to note corrections within the body of the text, devote comments at the end to matters of content and organization followed by evaluation. Alternatively, evaluation can also be done on the rewritten version

Written Works

• SHOULD ALL MISTAKES BE CORRECTED?

It is a difficult question because it involves two important issues regarding our role as a teacher – language instruction vs. support and encouragement of learning. In principle, language mistakes should be ignored if there is dangers that to correct them would hinder learning more than help it. We might correct only mistakes that actually affect meaning, and/or those that are very basic, or vary our response according to individual needs.

Written works correction

• SHOULD WE LET STUDENTS CORRECT OR GIVE FEEDBACK ON EACH OTHER’S WRITTEN WORK?

Correcting written work is very time consuming, especially if we have large class. One solution is for students to correct and edit each other’s writing but the problem is: will students feel comfortable correcting or being corrected by their peers? Will the accept criticism from each other? In this case, peer correction can be seen as a substitute for first draft reading. Students can work together on their first drafts, giving each other feedback on content, language and organization before handing the final version to the teacher. It follows that general classroom climate is very important to do this technique.