Mistakes

WHY DO WE CORRECT THE

STUDENTS?
 It is part of the learning process and it helps students
make progress.
 It fulfills the learners’ needs.
 Mistakes help guide teachers to focus on specific
areas and it’s part of our professional role.
 Learners want to be corrected- they rarely complain
of too much correction.
WHAT CAUSES ERRORS?
 Natural slips of the tongue.
 Students try to say something above their level.
 Getting something wrong when they should be able to get it
right.
 Not understanding when something is wrong eg
inappropriate choice of words, tone or register.
 Bad teaching and lack of correction. Poor models of the target
language by teachers. This results in ingrained errors.
 Tiredness, anxiety, laziness etc
 Nervousness – cultural pressure and fear of failure in front of
peers and teachers.
 Types of errors
 Grammar – eg missing article, wrong
preposition, wrong tense, missing auxiliary, word
order, subject verb agreement.
 Vocabulary –L1 interference, wrong collocation,
plural forms, problems with register.
 Phonology – individual phonemes, wrong stress,
intonation, not using contractions, no tlinking
sounds.
 Functional language-inappropriate
formal/informal language.
WHEN DO YOU CORRECT?
 On the spot (correct immediately): if the error involves the target language, then
pick up errors during the controlled practice stage –remember the aim is accuracy.

 On the spot: if a student is unintelligible and all the students would benefit from a
quick drill, then quickly correct it.

 Delayed correction (deal with later) – if the aim is fluency i.e. a speaking activity,
include a general feedback stage to the whole group. Put the errors on the
whiteboard and encourage the students to work together to identify the errors.

 Delayed correction :Collect a sample of errors and use it as a revision either at the
end of a lesson or at the end of a week. You could use this as a basis for presenting
a language point.
Who corrects?
 The student who made the error.
 Use other students to correct. The teacher
gestures or asks a student to help, but
then it’s vital to go back to the first student
to repeat the correct version.
 If the student still has problems, then the
teacher provides the correction.
 HOW DO YOU CORRECT?
 Aim for student self-correction, but if not, the error must be indicated
by the teacher. This can be done by:
 Using facial expression and voice. ( surprise, amusement, mock horror)

 Repeating and focusing on the error. Use finger highlighting to indicate

the word and error type.

 Gestures for time ie past, present, future. Use finger highlighting to

emphasise word order, missing words. If the students miss out the /s/
eg he go to London, then draw an S in the air. Use your hand to indicate
‘almost right.’
 Prompt the student and direct them to the area by saying ‘preposition’
‘tense’ ‘word order.’
 HOW DO YOU CORRECT?
 Point to the phonemic chart –do some minimal pair
practice eg /e/ vs / i:/
 Hum the intonation pattern.
 Model the sound and show students how to make it.
 Asking for more information or ask them to write it
down-this is useful if you are unsure of what they are
trying to say.
 Ask concept questions or draw a timeline.
General feedback correction
activities.
 Some students note errors while the other
students perform a task.
 Photocopy sheets of errors for the next day.
 Record / film students.
 The teacher gives ‘hot cards’ with errors to the
individual student.
 Games .e.g.~. grammar auctions, noughts and
crosses. etc.
Marking written work
What can the teacher do to help the
students?
 Use other colours - red can be too negative.
 Correcting everything can be demotivating an
demoralising. Consider the level –you may select or
focus on one area.
 Use a key to identify the type of error. The students can
refer to this and correct he errors. This promotes learner
autonomy and they are more likely to remember.
 Give feedback –write a comment to the student. This
validates the time and effort it has taken them to write.