ESSENTIAL ENGLISH

TEACHING SKILLS

MANUAL

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 1 | 30
Conteúdo

UNIT 1 CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE ............................................................................ 3

UNIT 2 TEACHER - STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS ..................................................... 4

UNIT 3 DEALING WITH CHALLENGING STUDENTS ............................................... 8

UNIT 4 TEACHING LISTENING ................................................................................ 10

UNIT 5 TEACHING READING .................................................................................. 12

UNIT 6 TEACHING SPEAKING ................................................................................ 14

UNIT 7 TEACHING WRITING ................................................................................... 17

UNIT 8 TEACHING VOCABULARY .......................................................................... 18

UNIT 9 TEACHING GRAMMAR ................................................................................ 20

UNIT 10 STUDENT ASSESSMENT .......................................................................... 22

UNIT 11 MISTAKES AND ERROR CORRECTION ................................................... 25

UNIT 12 EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK ............................................................................ 28

REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS .......................................................................... 30

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 2 | 30
 Unit 1 Classroom Discipline
1.1 The meaning of discipline
Discipline is the practice of teaching or training a person to obey rules or
a code of behaviour in both the short and long terms.
Discipline is the basis for guiding student on how to be in harmony with
themselves and get along with other people.
The ultimate goal of discipline is for student to understand their own behaviour,
take initiative, be responsible for their choices, and respect themselves and
others.

1.2 Manage classroom discipline

There are a number of ways that a teacher can promote good discipline in the
classroom:

1. Decide which rules are most important. Think about which rules will
keep your class a safe and fun learning environment. Design rules to reflect
this goal.

2. Make sure students know the rules. Explain what each rule means.
Give examples of how rules are followed or not followed.

3. Outline consequences. Tell students about consequences for breaking

the rules.

4. Have the students make a commitment to the rules. Ask the students
to come to an agreement with you about the rules.

5. Praise students for acting appropriately. Make a positive example of

students behaving properly by letting students know when they have followed
the rules.

6. Get parents involved early on. If there are discipline problems, it can be
helpful to get in touch with the student’s parents. Think about doing this
before the discipline problem becomes serious.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 3 | 30
Unit 2 Teacher - Student Relationships
2.1 Why students misbehave
It is believed that student misbehave to reach four goals, namely:

1. Student Misbehaves to get Attention

This is probably the most common cause of misbehavior.

• Acting out by making fun of others, talking out of turn, or being overly silly
are just a few ways students looking for more attention.

• Many students who value or crave attention don’t care if it is positive

(praise) or negative attention (reprimands). They just want attention!
HELPFUL STRATEGIES:
1. Ignore attention seeking behaviors (unless it interferes with other
students);
2. Give positive attention that is unconnected to misbehavior;
3. Ask students to help you with classroom jobs;
4. Make small talk with the student;
5. Physical proximity or a hand on the shoulder;
6. Make eye contact and smile.

2. Student Misbehaves out of Frustration

Some students would much rather see themselves as behavior problems than
struggling learners. They feel frustrated because they don’t get it, and rather
than treat frustration as a doorway into learning, they push it away. This results
in the student acting out.
HELPFUL STRATEGIES:
1. Differentiate and adjust work accordingly;
2. Manufacture situations where the student will experience success;

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 4 | 30
 3. Reach out with heart-to-heart talks;
4. Don’t overemphasize grades, focus on learning.

3. Student Misbehaves out of a Desire for Power

Some students who misbehave are expressing a desire for more control in the
classroom. Acting inappropriately makes them feel powerful. Signs of a power-
seeking student include constant arguing and a refusal to follow basic rules.
There are two types of this behavior – active and passive.
• The active power-seeking student will be the student who throws
tantrums or gives you bad attitude.
• The passive power-seeking student will be the student who quietly is in
noncompliance with you.
HELPFUL STRATEGIES:
1. Avoid confrontation;
2. Respect the student’s personal space;
3. Give redirection then walk away;
4. Provide choices in tasks;
5. Give student a voice;
6. Speak in a calm tone of voice.

4. Students Misbehaves because they are Bored

Boredom is a cause of misbehavior. Teachers need to try make lessons as fun
and as engaging as possible.
HELPFUL STRATEGIES:
1. Differentiate to be sure the student is being challenged;
2. Don’t reward students for rushing through their work with free time;
3. For students with short attention spans, use lots of short tasks rather than
one or two longer ones.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 5 | 30
5. Students Misbehaves because They are Looking for
Revenge
Looking for revenge is a root cause for more serious misbehavior.
Some students lash out in the classroom as a response to hurt feelings they
experience.
• By misbehaving, they feel they are getting back at those responsible.
• Students who misbehave as a motive for revenge may enjoy acting cruelly
towards others.
• Revenge seekers are likely to perform bullying acts, such as pushing,
shoving, and excessive teasing.
• Active revenge behavior is displayed through direct or indirect physical
attack (destruction of property), or psychological attack.

HELPFUL STRATEGIES:
1. Avoid consequences that are retaliative;
2. Focus on making amends;
3. Teach appropriate expression of feelings.

2.2 Positive student behaviour strategies

Some of the conditions that are especially important in encouraging positive
student behaviour as part of the relationship building process are:

1. MAINTAINING A POSITIVE EMOTIONAL TONE IN THE

CLASSROOM.

How you treat and react to your students will be reflected in their behaviour.

2. BEING FLEXIBLE.

particularly with older student and adolescents.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 6 | 30
 3. LISTEN TO THEIR REASONS FOR COMPLYING OR NOT
COMPLYING WITH YOUR REQUESTS OR CLASSROOM RULES.

This shows that you value your students’ viewpoints, which can reduce future
instances of misbehaviour.

4. BUILDING CONFIDENCE.

Promote positive self-talk. Ask each of your students to talk about what they
think they are good at, no matter what. Then apply their answers to your lessons;
get them involved in helping you to teach.

5. FOCUSING ON PAST SUCCESSES.

For a student who tends to feel inadequate or fears failure, praise him or her for
their last examination grade (no matter what it was), and encourage him or her
to do better.

6. FAIRNESS.

Students see this as the most important trait of teachers. It means being fair in
activities such as making assignments, settling disputes, giving help, and
choosing students to be assistants or to participate in special activities.

7. RESPECT.

This means showing regard for the rights and feelings of the student.

8. COURTESY.

This is another sign of respect.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 7 | 30
Unit 3 Dealing with challenging students
3.1 Positive discipline techniques
If a student misbehaves, positive techniques to reduce or eliminate that
behaviour are needed.

Positive discipline tips

1. Point out the positive. Whenever a student does something helpful,

caring, cooperative, or shows improvement, let them know you’ve noticed
and give words of appreciation.

2. Interact respectfully with students. Treat them as you would like to be

treated. Help them to do better. Be a guide, not a boss.

3. Communicate your expectations to your students clearly and

respectfully. Remind them of your expectations frequently, before the
situation and during the situation.

4. Don’t take a student’s willful disobedience personally. Student need

to express disobedience, and they need to test limits as part of their
development. Don’t feel that this is a threat to your authority.

5. Focusing and being soft spoken: Be sure you have the attention of
everyone in your classroom before you start your lesson. Wait to start class
until everyone has quieted down.

6. Circulate: Get up and walk around the room, especially when students are
doing written assignments or working in groups. Check on their progress.

7. Non-verbal cueing: Non-verbal cues can be facial expressions, body

posture, and hand signals. Care should be given in choosing the types of

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 8 | 30
 cues you use in your classroom. Take time to explain what you want the
students to do when you use your cues.

3.3 Using appropriate consequences

Positive Consequences
1. Students need to know and be praised for following the rules, as well as for
their successes and accomplishments in learning.
There are many simple ways to praise a student, such as:
• A pat on the shoulder; an “I’m proud of you!”
• Selection as class leader for a day;
• Selection as “teacher assistant” for a day;
• Praising the student in front of other teachers.

Negative Consequences
To stop inappropriate behaviour so that you do not interrupt your teaching or call
excessive attention to the student, try:

1. Moving close to the offending student or students, making eye contact and
giving a nonverbal signal to stop the misbehaviour;

2. Calling a student’s name or give a short verbal instruction to stop the

behaviour; and
3. Redirecting the student to the appropriate behaviour by stating what the
student should be doing (don’t give a “don’t” command), and citing the rule that
he or she should be following.
But despite our best efforts, sometimes it is necessary to discipline a student.
Make sure that whatever action is taken, it focuses on the student’s behaviour,
not on the student; is a logical consequence of the misbehaviour; and is never
done in haste or with anger.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 9 | 30
 Unit 4 Teaching Listening
Listening is an active process done by the listener in order to obtain message
from spoken language.

4.1 Phases of listening process

The phases of listening process in the class are:

1. Pre listening
• Before the activity is done, the teachers should activate the students’
ideas about the topic they are going to hear.

• The activities should be intended to explore what is already known about

the topic and to set a purpose.
Following activities can be exploited as pre-listening activities:
1. Write the topic of the lesson on the board. Seeing the topic on the
board makes the students unknowingly activate their knowledge.
2. Display some related pictures on the board. When students look at the
pictures, they unconsciously start relating their knowledge to the pictures.

2. While Listening
In this activity, the students need to: Remember, or write down the key words
from what they are listening.

A variety of while-listening activities:

• Play the recording and ask the students to tell the main idea.
• Now replay the recording and ask some general questions.
• Now ask some direct and simple questions to answer.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 10 | 30
3. Post Listening
Post-Listening Activities consist of tasks whose main aim is to help students
reflect on the listening experience. Post-listening activities are carried out after
pre-listening and while listening activities have been implemented successfully.
There are some examples of post activity or follow up activity after listening has
been done.

1. CHECK AND SUMMARIZING

• Teachers can check understanding by asking students to summarize the

information they heard, this can be done orally or in writing.
2. DISCUSSIONS

• One of the post-listening activities that a teacher can do is ask students

to have a short discussion about the topic.
3: TEST YOUR CLASSMATES

• You can ask students to prepare a set of questions that another student
will have to respond to, they can prepare a multiple-choice quiz, short
answer questions, or true and false statements.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 11 | 30
 Unit 5 Teaching Reading
5.1 Reading
Reading is a process involving word recognition, comprehension and fluency.

1. Word recognition: is the ability of a reader to recognize written words

correctly.
2. Comprehension: is the ability of a reader to read text, process it, and
understand its meaning.
3. Fluency: is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly.

5.2 Stages in a reading lesson

1. BEFORE READING THE TEXT (PRE-READING)
PRE-READING refers to all the things a reader does before reading in order to
engage with the text and increase capacity to understand it.
There are a number of things teachers can do to prepare students for reading a
particular text, such as:

GROUP DISCUSSION OR BRAINSTORMING:

• Introduce the theme of the book or an essential question and have

students discuss it before reading.

PRE-TEACHING KEY VOCABULARY WORDS:

• Pre-teaching 3-5 important concept words from the story builds

background knowledge and helps support comprehension.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 12 | 30
2. WHILE READING STAGE
While-Reading Activities are defined as activities that help students focus on
aspects of the text and to understand it better.
These are some examples of while-reading activities that you can use in the
classroom:

1. IDENTIFY TOPIC SENTENCES

• Identify topic sentences and the main idea of paragraphs.

2. SKIM A TEXT FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION.

• Skimming is the ability to locate the main idea within a text, using this
reading strategy will help students to become proficient readers.

3. SCAN A TEXT FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION

• Scanning is reading a text quickly in order to find specific information.

3. POST-READING STAGE
Post-reading (after, follow-up, beyond reading) exercises first check students'
comprehension and then lead students to a deeper analysis of the text.

Post-Reading Examples:

1. AREAS OF INTEREST
• Ask students to say which part of the text is the most important/interesting
and which part is not interesting or important.

2. WRITE A SUMMARY
• If students can summarize a piece of writing, you can be sure they've
gotten the gist of what they've just read.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 13 | 30
 Unit 6 Teaching Speaking
Speaking is a fundamental language skill. It is the primary way in which we
communicate information.

6.1 Stages to develop speaking skills

There are three stages to develop speaking skills that may meet the three
features above:

• Setting up (pre-speaking activities);

• Practice speaking (while-speaking activities) and

• Feedback (post-speaking activities).

1. Setting up or Engage stage:

• This stage is intended for the students to get ready with what they have
to do. The example of each demonstration is presented in the part of
technique in teaching speaking.

• The demonstration stages can be a good time for students to practice

pronunciation of any words, phrases, or intonation that teachers know
learners will find it difficult to pronounce.

2. Speaking practice or the activate stage

• The second stage of teaching speaking, the speaking practice or the
activate stage, is considered as the main stage of speaking activities
where students are exposed to practice the topic introduced in the setting-
up or in the engage stage.

3. Feedback or study stage

The last stage of developing speaking skills is feedback or study.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 14 | 30
 • Teachers in this stage may ask students to report back what they have
talked about. If the activity has involved, for example, a discussion or a
questionnaire, ask a few students to report back to the rest of the class.

• It is also important to give feedback on the students’ errors regarding the

language practiced during the activities of speaking. Teachers’ notes
while monitoring the activities can be used as the basis of the feedback.

6.2 Roles of the teacher in a speaking activity

There are several roles the teacher might adopt:

1. EXPLAINER: if some learners have not understood what to do or have

problems with the language, you will need to help them.

2. CONTROLLER: if the activities get too noisy, the teacher will have to
quieten things down. For example, raising your hands and learners to
raise theirs. The teacher will also make sure that all learners are speaking
English.

3. EVALUATOR: these activities give the teacher a valuable opportunity to

listen to the learners and evaluate their progress, both as individuals and
as a whole class.

6.2 Techniques in teaching speaking

Let’s look at a number of different techniques to create meaningful context for
speaking practice in English.

1. DISCUSSIONS

Discussion is an effective strategy that can enhance learners‟ speaking ability.

• The teacher can divide learners into groups. Each group consists of four
to five learners. Then, each group is given a topic to be discussed.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 15 | 30
 • In this activity, learners should be constantly motivated to inquire
questions, voice opinions, seek clarification, etc.
• As a result, discussions might encourage students to practice speaking in
front of their companions routinely.

2. ROLE PLAY
• The teacher would ask learners to role play with various guidelines, such
as allowing students to choose who they want to be, expressing what they
are thinking, or asking them to portray a specific character.
• Role-playing can be used to complete an objective task with a single
person, in pairs, or groups, with each individual assigned a specific role to
perform.

3. SIMULATIONS
• In the simulations, the teacher not only asks learners to choose who they
want to be but also asks them to bring kinds of stuff that are related to
their choices.
• For instance, a learner chooses to be a football player, so he should bring
a ball, shoes, etc. By using this strategy, learners can be motivated to
speak and have confidence when acting out their roles.

4. INFORMATION GAP
Each student in the group has some information required to complete the task
or activity.
The aim is to share the information and to complete the task. Students do not
know what the others are going to say and as such it imitates real life
conversation.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 16 | 30
 Unit 7 Teaching Writing
Writing is a form of communication that allows students to put their feelings and
ideas on paper.

7.1 Stages to develop writing skills

1. PLANNING (PREWRITING)
Prewriting: usually begins with motivation and audience awareness: what is the
student trying to communicate, why is it important to communicate it well and
who is the audience for this communication.

2. DRAFTING (DURING WRITING)

Once students have got their initial ideas down, they can then move onto the
drafting stage.

• At this stage, the main focus is getting ideas formulated and written down
in a structured way.

3. REVISING (DURING WRITING)

• Now that students have got the majority of their ideas written down, it's a
great time to take a quick break to look over what they've written.

3. EDITING (DURING WRITING)

• At this stage, students are making the finishing touches. It's a good idea
to go through with a checklist, making sure that spelling, punctuation, and
grammar is all correct.

4. PUBLISHING (AFTER WRITING)

• And they've done it! By this point, students have finished their writing and
are ready to share.

• This could be reading it aloud to their peers or their family, putting it on

display, or submitting it to their teacher for marking.
E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 17 | 30
 Unit 8 Teaching Vocabulary
Vocabulary is the most important component of language knowledge.

8.1 Methods for Teaching Vocabulary

1. Show images or drawings
Because drawings and photos are fairly universal and understood by most
people, this is perhaps the best way to present new vocabulary.

• The internet is full of photos and pictures.

• If you have an ability for drawing, you can make your own pictures, but
make sure that these are large enough for everyone to see.

2. Present vocabulary with realia (real objects)

The main advantage of using real objects in the classroom is to make the
learning experience more memorable for the learner.

• If you are going to teach vocabulary of fruit and vegetables it can be much
more affective for students if they can touch, smell and see the objects at
the same time as hearing the new word. This would appeal to a wider
range of learner styles than a simple flashcard picture of the fruit or
vegetable.

3. Use antonyms and synonyms to teach vocabulary

In order to build vocabulary, it’s a good idea to not only use the words from your
chosen vocabulary list but to also incorporate their synonyms and antonyms.

• Using opposites to teach new vocabulary gives students the opportunity

to learn twice as many words.

• To make a bigger impact on your students’ learning process, use pictures

to illustrate sentences, or put words into short sentences that tell a story.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 18 | 30
4. Teach vocabulary using games
Games are an essential tool in the classroom.

A. BINGO FOR TEACHING VOCABULARY

B. SONGS

8.2 Vocabulary assessment

Often vocabulary is assessed at the end of a unit using a multiple-choice task,
a fill-in-the-blank task or matching task.

1. Matching format
• The basic format of matching items includes two columns of information.
The left column includes the explanations, statements or the definitions of
the words. The right column, on the other hand, includes the words or the
options.

• Learners are then asked to match the words/options on the right with the
words/statements on the left by generally writing the letters (A, B, C, D…)
that correspond to the options on the right column.

2. Gap-fill format
• In the gap-fill format, learners are provided with sentences that have gaps.
Learners are expected to read each sentence and to provide the suitable
word that may complete the sentence.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 19 | 30
 Unit 9 Teaching Grammar
Each language has its own distinct set of grammar rules. These rules tell us how
to use different types of words and in what order.

9.1 Approaches for teaching grammar

There are two main approaches to teaching grammar. These are the deductive
and the inductive approach.

1. THE DEDUCTIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING GRAMMAR

The deductive method of teaching grammar is an approach that focuses on
instruction before practice.

• A teacher gives students an in-depth explanation of a grammatical

concept before they encounter the same grammatical concept in their own
writing.

• After the lesson, students are expected to practice what they have just
been shown in a mechanical way, through worksheets and exercises.

EXAMPLES OF DEDUCTIVE APPROACH

EXAMPLE

• For example, in a lesson on the past tense, begin by explaining the various
rules and verb conjugations.

• Next, complete a fill in the gaps exercise where students write the correct
past tense endings on a list of verbs. Finally, ask students to prepare their
own examples.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 20 | 30
2. THE INDUCTIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING GRAMMAR
• The inductive approach in teaching grammar is a discovery learning
approach in which teachers don’t teach the grammatical rules directly but
let students discover them through a learning experience in terms of using
the target language.

• For instance, the students can discover the rules through games, songs,
or different activities that require the students’ engagement and
interaction.

EXAMPLES OF INDUCTIVE APPROACH

EXAMPLE 1

• A teacher writes on the whiteboard some examples of present perfect and

simple past sentences.

• Afterward, the teacher asks the students what differences they notice in
the sets of sentences. The students discuss the differences in peers or in
groups.

• The teacher elicits the difference in terms of the form and possibly the
meaning from the students.

• Finally, the teacher explains the rules of both tenses and provides more
examples.

EXAMPLE 2

• Teacher begins by presenting students with a list of past tense verbs.

• For regular verbs, students are likely to notice that the rule is to add ‘-ed’
onto the end of the word. As a conclusion, ask students to explain the rule
themselves.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 21 | 30
 Unit 10 Student Assessment
Assessment consists of techniques you can use to monitor pupils’ progress in
terms of specific learning outcomes.

10.1 The purposes of assessment

The most frequently used purposes are as follows.
1. To provide you with feedback about pupils’ progress. feedback enables
you to consider how effective your teaching has been in achieving its
intended learning outcomes.
2. To provide pupils with educative feedback. Assessment enables pupils
to relate their performance to the standard expected.
3. To motivate pupils. Assessment activities can act as a spur to pupils to
organise their work well and to learn what is required so as to achieve well at
these activities.
4. To provide a record of progress. Regular assessment activities enable you
to keep a record of pupils’ progress over a long period.
5. To provide evidence of teacher and school effectiveness. Pupils’
performance in assessment tasks provides evidence of their progress and
hence acts as a useful indicator of teacher and school effectiveness.

10.2 Types of assessment

Pre-assessment or diagnostic assessment
Diagnostic assessment can help you identify your students’ current knowledge
of a subject, their skill sets and capabilities, and to clarify misconceptions before
teaching takes place.
Knowing students’ strengths and weaknesses can help you better plan what to
teach and how to teach it.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 22 | 30
TYPES OF DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENTS
• Pre-tests (on content and abilities)
• Self-assessments (identifying skills and competencies)
• Discussion board responses (on content-specific prompts)
• Interviews (brief, private, 10-minute interview of each student)

Formative assessment
Formative assessment provides feedback and information during the
instructional process, while learning is taking place, and while learning is
occurring. Formative assessment measures student progress but it can also
assess your own progress as an instructor.
For example, when implementing a new activity in class, you can, through
observation and/or surveying the students, determine whether or not the activity
should be used again (or modified).
A primary focus of formative assessment is to identify areas that may need
improvement. These assessments typically are not graded and act as a gauge
to students’ learning progress and to determine teaching effectiveness
(implementing appropriate methods and activities).

TYPES OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

• Observations during in-class activities;
• Homework exercises;
• Question and answer sessions;
• In-class activities where students informally present their results;
• Student feedback collected by periodically answering specific question
about the instruction and their self-evaluation of performance and
progress.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 23 | 30
Summative assessment
Summative assessment takes place after the learning has been completed and
provides information and feedback that sums up the teaching and learning
process.
Summative assessment is more product-oriented and assesses the final
product, whereas formative assessment focuses on the process toward
completing the product.

TYPES OF SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

• Examinations (major, high-stakes exams)
• Final examination (a truly summative assessment)

10.3 Carrying out assessment activities

In carrying out assessment activities, a number of important points need to be
borne in mind:
1. The assessment activity must be a fair one, in the sense of relating to the
work covered, so that pupils can be reasonably expected to perform well on
the activity if progress has been made during the appropriate coursework.
2. The assessment activity should relate to the learning outcomes planned by
the school.
3. Pupils should be informed about the nature and purpose of assessment
activities, how they are used, and the criteria employed that characterize
successful performance.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 24 | 30
 Unit 11 Mistakes and Error Correction
11.1 Mistakes and Error Correction
Mistakes
• A mistake is an accident or a lapse, something that your students actually
know and that they can most likely self-correct if given the chance. This
can be using the wrong word, or a small grammatical mistake.
Errors
• An error, on the other hand, is something that your students don’t know
because they haven’t learned it yet or they’ve forgotten it.
• This is where your students need you the most, in order to effectively
correct their errors and help them develop their language skills.

11.2 What kind of errors students make in class?

Students make many mistakes during the long effort of learning a new language.
This is a natural and necessary part of the learning process! As a teacher, it
helps to identify the type of error in order to correct it effectively and smoothly.

Productive skills errors

• Errors in spoken or written skills include vocabulary, pronunciation, and
grammatical errors, as well as errors in producing intelligible language that
can be understood globally.
Receptive skills errors
• Errors in listening and reading skills include misinterpretation of content,
misunderstanding of words, or simply the inability to comprehend
someone’s speech in total.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 25 | 30
11.3 When should I correct my students?
Error correction has a big impact on your students’ learning process and the
right timing will help them retain new information effectively.

When to correct errors in fluency-based lessons

If you’re teaching a class or activity where fluency is the goal, try to monitor your
students and take notes of major or repeating mistakes.
• Don’t interrupt your students’ speech. This might discourage them or
make them lose the motivation to speak freely. Save the error correction
for the end of the class.
When to correct errors in accuracy-based lessons
If you’re teaching a class or activity that aims for accuracy, for example applying
a new grammar rule during a conversation, you can correct immediately after
the mistake has been made, assuming that it is a mistake about said rule.
• Since you just taught the content, you can encourage your students to
self-correct their error first, or you can ask other classmates to help.
Sometimes a gesture is enough to indicate the type of error.
If you notice during the activity that your students are making the same errors
over and over again, you might want to stop the activity, review the lesson
content and resume the practice after making sure that all your students have
understood the new rule.

11.4 Dos and Don’ts of error correction

Here are some useful ground rules for error correction in the English classroom,
whether you’re teaching online lessons or in a live classroom.

Dos
• Be kind and patient in the way you correct. Always encourage your
students to keep trying new language they’ve learned and assure them
that making mistakes is okay. You want to encourage your students to
speak and to experiment with what they’ve learned so far.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 26 | 30
 • Give your students a chance to self-correct, or apply peer-correction
in your classroom.

Some students learn better when they’re corrected by their classmates

instead of the teacher.

• Use visual cues.

Sometimes, simply raising your eyebrow can help your students realize that
they’ve made a mistake and it gives them a chance to correct themselves.

Establish your own gestures for common mistakes in tense, vocabulary, or

sentence structure, such as pointing behind you to indicate a student needs
to use past tense.

Dont’s
• Don’t over-correct every single mistake your students make.

Keep error correction relevant and make sure that your students benefit and
learn from it.

• Avoid interrupting your students when they’re making an effort to

speak fluently.

This can be very counter-productive and your students might lose their
motivation or become hesitant to use the new language they’ve learned.

• Never scold your students, become loud, or show your impatience

with angry facial expressions.

There are no silly mistakes in the classroom! This is especially important if

you’re teaching young learners, who easily pick up on moods and emotions.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 27 | 30
 Unit 12 Effective Feedback
Feedback is any response regarding a student's performance or behavior. It can
be verbal, written or gestural. The purpose of feedback in the assessment and
learning process is to improve a student's performance - not put a damper on it.

12.1 Ways to Provide Effective Feedback

1. Feedback should be educative in nature.
Providing feedback means giving students an explanation of what they are doing
correctly and incorrectly.

2. Feedback should be given in a timely manner.

When feedback is given immediately after showing proof of learning, the student
responds positively and remembers the experience about what is being learned
in a confident manner. If we wait too long to give feedback, the moment is lost
and the student might not connect the feedback with the action.

3. Be sensitive to the individual needs of the student.

It is vital that we take into consideration each student individually when giving
feedback. Our classrooms are full of diverse learners. Some students need to
be pushed to achieve at a higher level and others need to be handled very gently
so as not to discourage learning and damage self-esteem. A balance between
not wanting to hurt a student’s feelings and providing proper encouragement is
essential.

4. Host a one-on-one conference.

Providing a one-on-one meeting with a student is one of the most effective
means of providing feedback. The student will look forward to having the
attention and allows the opportunity to ask necessary questions. A one-on-one
conference should be generally optimistic, as this will encourage the student to
look forward to the next meeting.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 28 | 30
 5. Educate students on how to give feedback to each
other.
Model for students what appropriate feedback looks like and sounds like. As an
elementary teacher, we call this ‘peer conferencing.’ Train students to give each
other constructive feedback in a way that is positive and helpful.

6. Use a notebook to keep track of student progress.

Keep a section of a notebook for each student. Write daily or weekly, dated
comments about each student as necessary. Keep track of good questions the
student asks, behavior issues, areas for improvement, test scores, etc.

7. Use Post-It notes.

Sometimes seeing a comment written out is more effective than just hearing it
aloud. During independent work time, try writing feedback comments on a post-
it note. Place the note on the student’s desk the feedback is meant for.

8. Give genuine praise.

Students are quick to figure out which teachers use meaningless praise to win
approval. If you are constantly telling your students ‘Good Job’ or ‘Nice Work’
then, over time, these words become meaningless.
Make an effort to notice a student’s behavior or effort at a task. For example; “I
noticed when you regrouped correctly in the hundreds column, you got the
problem right.” “I noticed you arrived on time to class this entire week.”
Acknowledging a student and the efforts they are making goes a long way to
positively influence academic performance.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 29 | 30
 References Bibliographical
1. CELCE-MURCIA. M. 2014. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign
Language (4TH ed). USA: Heinle & Heinle.

2. DIANE LARSEN-FREEMAN AND MARTI ANDERSON. 2011.

Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford University
Press

3. JEREMY HARMER.2010. How to Teach English. Pearson Education

Limited

4. LOUIS COHEN, LAWRENCE MANION, KEITH MORRISON AND

DOMINIC WYSE. 2010. A Guide to Teaching Practice. Revised fifth
edition. Routledge. London.

5. UR, PENNY. 1991. A Course in Language Teaching. Theory and

Practice. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

E s s e n t i a l E n g l i s h T e a c h i n g S k i l l s P á g i n a 30 | 30