CELTA Online Unit 14 Task 9 – When to Correct 4

4. You are teaching a weak elementary class. The class has quite a few introverted personalities,
who are not very independent or communicative. It is difficult to get students to speak
spontaneously in class. During feedback from a reading about the richest people in the world, a
student suddenly says: ‘If I am rich, I live in America.’ Some students respond and a discussion
starts up.

1. Would you correct the student immediately? Yes / No

2. Why/why not?

Your response
No. It wouldn't be a good idea to cocrrect that kind of person, as the self evaluation will be low and shen
never tries it agagin to say something.

Suggested answer
No. It would not be a good idea to correct this student. Due to the personalities and learning styles of
many of the students in the class, they struggle to speak fluently and confidently and so this is a great
opportunity that should be exploited. If the teacher were to correct immediately, this would interrupt
the flow of the discussion.