| |
| |
Part
3: Correcting Students |
The most frequent request
from students to teachers is for their English
to be constantly corrected. The majority of
complaints about TESOL/TEFL teachers concern
correction - usually the lack of it. Correction
is arguably the principal role of teachers in
the classroom. Errors left uncorrected can easily
lead to complete breakdown in communication
on a daily basis and when left unchecked, can
lead to permanent errors which later become
irreversible. What do students learn in class
if not corrected? As a rule, a lack of correction
does not leave the student with a good impression
of a teacher’s competency or professionalism.
In this article, Handouts Online examines
theories behind effective use of correction
in the classroom.
|
 |
Student
requests for correction
Students often have particular demands regarding
correction based on misconception of the function
of correction or simpler perceived necessity.
Most frequently, students ask for either complete
correction or no correction at all. Neither is
entirely suitable to students at any stage. Endeavoring
to meet the highest demands of one student in
a group class, may simply annoy other students
who find such correction obtrusive. Over-correction
can be detrimental to the student’s acquisition
of new language. Yet correcting nothing leaves
the student with an ineffective ability.
|
|
What
are we correcting?
When we hear native speakers misuse English, we
often have to wonder whether our own students
are making real errors or not! Is the language
in question normally used by native speakers?
If so, this may be considered as correct use of
natural English. The teacher has to use split-second
judgment in this regard.
A distinction made by Jeremy Harmer in A Practical
Guide to English Language Teaching categorizes
incorrect English from students.
A mistake occurs when students know the
correct language but incorrectly retrieve it from
memory.
An error occurs when students have incorrectly
learned or don’t yet know the correct language.
English words ‘borrowed’ by other
languages are the most common source of mis-learned
English. Whether the utterance in question falls
into one or the other category above, will determine
to what extent we will correct, if at all.
|
|
When
to correct
Perhaps this is the greatest of dilemmas facing
the TESOL/TEFL teacher. We are pulled in many
directions, not least by individual student’s
requirements and personalities and the practicalities
of daily class management.
We must consider both timing and methodology when
correcting students. Basically there are three
main options:
1. |
|
Verbal correction as soon
as we hear it |
2. |
|
Taking note of errors and raising these
once students have completed their utterance,
conversation or activity |
3. |
|
Allowing students to correct each other. |
|
| |
There are many methods of
correction. The most suitable method depends
on such factors as class size, the activity
in hand, the kind of error made and personal
preferences regarding correction.
|
"Mis-timing
correction can be |
detrimental to class
flow." |
|
Mis-timing correction can be detrimental to
the class flow, student confidence in their
own ability as well that of the teacher and
should be carefully considered. Before correcting
errors, the teacher needs to signal that an
error has been made.
|
|
Indicating
error
It is most natural for people listening to a non-native
speaker of English, to correct immediately by
presenting the
speaker with an ‘automatically’
corrected interpretation of what they think
the speaker was trying to say. TESOL teachers
have to resist this natural urge and furthermore
facilitate the non-native speaker’s self-correction.
"No!" or "That's wrong!"
|
does little to help the
student." |
|
Firstly, we need to
highlight errors as they occur. The simplest
way to do this is to say so directly, as the
utterance occurs: e.g. ‘No’ or ‘That’s
wrong’.
However this does little to help the student.
What exactly was wrong? Why? Student confidence
will soon suffer under such correction. |
|
|
| |
Why
not draw attention to the error by getting the
student to immediately repeat what they just said
by saying ‘Again?’ or ‘Once
more?’, with questioning intonation. This
may be enough to elicit correction, although it
may also give the impression that you simply misheard
the student.
A more successful technique is to echo what the
student has said. This can be done by echoing
the whole sentence or individual words. The student
now knows something is wrong and can start thinking
about correcting that.
Some teachers use a gesture or facial expression
to indicate errors. Students new to the teacher
may be confused by this, or perhaps intimidated
by it. There are also cultural considerations
to bear in mind when using gestures in the classroom.
These may not be acceptable in your particular
class.
Another technique, in group classes, is to draw
the other students’ attention to the error
by saying ‘Is that correct?’ and eliciting
responses. This technique again may cause intimidation
in the classroom, especially if mismanaged by
the teacher.
|
|
How
to correct
Showing that an error has been made will not
always elicit correction by itself. The teacher
will therefore need to use correction techniques.
Jeremy Harmer (again in The Practice of English
Language Teaching) lists two basic types of
correction techniques as
a. Student corrects student(s)
b. Teacher corrects student(s)
The use of these depends on the stage of the
lesson in which errors are made. (For more on
lesson stages, see Lesson Planning.
|
|
Warm-up
This is a time of minimal correction as the
class is just starting, the student(s) will
be getting used to speaking the language and
errors are to be expected and tolerated.
|
|
Controlled
Practice
Once target language has been properly introduced,
this is a time where maximum correction should
be employed to reinforce rules and strictly
control its use. Always encourage students to
self-correct although don’t expect much,
especially with lower level students introduced
to brand new lexis or grammar. Indicate that
an error has occurred as soon as you hear it.
Explain what it is, why and correct it.
|
|
Production
During discussion and role-play, avoid interrupting
students directly unless meaning is lost. Now
we are concentrating on getting students to
accurately reproduce what they have studied.
This usually includes using other language and
structures which may be incorrectly used but
are not part of the target of the lesson anyway.
To aid fluency and minimize disruption, save
correction until the conclusion of the activity.
Systematic correction does not work effectively
and can be detrimental to most students trying
to focus on communicative tasks at this stage
of a lesson.
|
|
Examples
of techniques
To note an error:
a. |
|
a.
facial expression |
b. |
|
sentence completion
(repeat only the correct part of an utterance) |
c. |
|
Say ‘Try
again’ or ‘I don’t understand’ |
Illustrate the error:
a. |
|
echo
the error (word or phrase) |
| b. |
|
stress the incorrect
word or phrase |
c. |
|
Ask ‘What
do you mean by ________ ‘(complete
with the incorrect word or phrase) |
Explain the error:
a. |
|
explain
using grammatical terminology |
| b. |
|
give a correct
use of the word or phrase instead |
c. |
|
explain what the
student’s utterance actually means
|
d. |
|
use a combination
of the above techniques |
Correcting the error:
a. |
|
give
the correct version and ask the student
to repeat it |
| b. |
|
suggest an appropriate
alternative word or phrase |
c. |
|
explain what the
student’s utterance actually means
|
d. |
|
use a combination
of the above techniques |
|
|
Follow
up
Following any correction, two things should
be done. The student should accurately and fluently
repeat the corrected word, structure or sentence.
The teacher should also praise correction, especially
in the case of self-corrected work.
Has the student understood
the error, reproduced an accurate corrected
version and not repeated the error too much?
Then you have successfully corrected the student.
How effective the teacher has actually been
is easily checked by review both later in the
same class and in future lessons. |
