Error Correction
Making mistakes is a necessary part of the language learning process. Indeed, students want to be corrected; many students feel this is one of the major roles of the teacher. If they don't get corrected they feel that the teacher is not doing his/her job properly.
Correction can come from you, but students can also be encouraged to self-correct and correct each other. This is especially useful in large, mixed ability classes where it is impossible for the teacher to monitor effectively at all times. This encourages students to be self critical and prepares them to take responsibility for their own learning, leading towards independent learning, and better prepared for the “real” world.
Several things need to be considered. The types of mistakes, the reasons for mistakes, and why, when and how to correct mistakes.
Correction is more complex than simply giving a student the right answer. For the correction to be effective you need to know why the mistake was made. Then the correction needs to be carried out in a tactful and non-threatening way.
Types of mistakes
Students can make errors in categories like:
- Grammar
- Vocabulary
- Pronunciation
- Spelling
- Style and/or register
Reasons for mistakes
- L1 interference
- Slip of the tongue
- Level too high
- Mis-use of the rule
How to correct
This is a delicate stage. We're there to support our students so we must make sure our manner is helpful and encouraging. Don’t “machine-gun” correct, this is frustrating.
When to correct
You should correct certain errors at certain stages of the lesson. At the presentation and controlled practice stages, correct target language straight away, so they don’t become reinforced at this early stage. Other errors can be ignored, as you don't want to detract from the target structure or de-motivate students.
Special Note
When a correction is needed, consider the flow of the lesson or the activity. Some speaking activities involve an uninterrupted stream of conversation. This is where you can monitor and take notes of errors for a whole class error correction focus afterwards. That is unless errors are causing a break down in effective communication, in which case deal with them immediately.
Methods of correction
- highlight wrong or missed words with hand gestures
- a puzzled facial expression
- repeating the student's words up to the point of the error
- indicating with voice - stress the incorrect word
- identifying the type of error - say 'tense'
- asking the student to repeat
- indicating with a gesture, e.g. gesture for future = making loops with hand
Remember, encourage the student to self-correct if possible; they will remember better this way.
Look at the student errors below. First identify what is wrong with the sentence. Then write
- what caused the error
- what type of an error it is
- how you would correct it.
All of the errors you will be analysing below are spoken errors rather than written.
Example error:
I have hunger.
Example analysis:
The sentence should be “I am hungry.”
a. The error is probably caused by L1 interference. In the speaker’s native language the verb “have” is used when explaining hungry.
b. This is a grammar error.
c. One possibility is to repeat the error with rising intonation and a puzzled look on your face. “I have hungry?” You can also repeat the sentence and point at your fingers to represent each word in the sentence. Wiggle the finger which represents “have” to indicate that this is where the error is.
