Delayed error correction

Everyone makes mistakes even while using their own L1. In the second language learning making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process. The correction of the mistakes is a very important element of the teaching/learning process, therefore, teachers need to make informed decisions about what, when and how to correct their students to improve their speaking for fluency skills and not discourage them from the speaking. In this article, we will present a number of useful techniques which will smoothen the correction slot pressure. 

Basically, error correction can de be divided into two categories: Immediate correction (on-the-spot correction, when students get an immediate, individual correction in the context) and Delayed Correction (correction doesn’t interrupt the flow of the fluency-based task). 

Delayed correction

• This technique is one of the most effective ones since the teacher doesn’t interfere in the speaking flow and lets the students finish up their mind. The ideas is that the teacher monitors the learning during a speaking activity and collects the errors(grammar, lexical, pronunciation) by noting them in a notebook. The teacher needs to be selective and jot down those mistakes which are closely connected with the lesson topic, impede communication or are repeated mistakes. Mistakes referring to the topics which haven’t been studied or minor mistakes which don’t obscure the meaning shouldn’t be given notice of.

After the activity is over the teacher boards the sentences which contained mistakes, divides the learners into pairs and asks to correct each sentence. They write their versions on pieces of papers, give them to the teacher who jumps through the answers of all pairs and decided the winning pair. Afterwards, the corrects answers are discussed open class. In this way, the students will not feel very stressed about being corrected and actually, the error correction slot will turn into a competition. Moreover, students enjoy analysing the errors and working out the right answers with their peers

Moreover, you can write down on the board not only sentences with mistakes but also ones with good grammar or vocabulary usage. In this case, a teacher asks students to find and correct incorrect sentences.

• An alternative to delayed correction is when the teacher boards sentences which contain mistakes and asks the students to divide them into two columns where in the first column they must include the mistakes which lead to misunderstanding and in the second column those mistakes which are slight and don’t give rise to any misunderstanding in the communication. In this way, the teacher shows to the students that making mistakes is quite a natural part of the language learning process and not all mistakes must be corrected. 
• You can use grammatical terminology to make students identify the mistake. Use this technique with more high-level students who know grammatical terms. 

“You used the wrong tense”, 

“You need an adverb, not an adjective” 

 “Can change that into the passive? 

“Say the same sentence, but with the comparative form”

Facial Expression and Body Language

In many cases when the teacher wants to point to the mistake on the spot he/she may use facial expressions or body language. 

• tilt your head to one side or frown slightly to make the students understand that not everything is ok with their response/speech. In this way, you give them the chance to self-correct 
• point the thumb backwards showing that the sentence must be used in the past tense form or that there is a mistake in the usage of the past tense. 
• point to the posters or any other visual in the classroom which contains the right answer. I had a number of great posters with idioms, use of prepositions, functional language use and so on. In case, when I was spotting a mistake related to those language items I was pointing to one of those posters for students to self-correct and students were able to notice their mistake quite successfully.
  

  Echoing — Repeat what they have said

  This can mean repeating the whole sentence or one section of it including the wrong part with an increasing intonation.
  Student:  “The man GOED to the shop. ”
  Teacher: “The man GOED to the shop?”
  Student: “Went to the shop”.

  You can also repeat the sentence up to the wrong part or the sentence with the wrong part missed out (with maybe a humming noise to show the gap that should be filled). In this way, the teacher illustrates that there is an error and gives some hint as to which bit is wrong by using a questioning tone. However, this method mustn’t be overused not to seem to patronising.
  

Recast or Sadow correction 

A recast is a corrected answer given by the teacher to a student who has made an error. The teacher effectively repeats what the student has said but in a corrected form. Thi technique is a quick and encouraging way to highlight mistakes.

Teacher: “What did you do yesterday?”

Student:  “I GOED to the shop. ”

Teacher: “Oh, you WENT to the shop yesterday”. 

Self-correction

Sometimes, students don’t need much help at all but just a chance to do it again. In such cases, when you spot a mistake you can just ask them to repeat the sentence again. A lot of students enjoy self-correction and if they finally come up with the right version of the sentence/language item they have a feeling of accomplishment and get better at language awareness.

“One more time (but think about the grammar more this time”

“Give it another go”. 

Error correction is necessary to prevent fossilization, over-correction could be demotivating. This means that teachers need to be selective. For this reason, they can even agree with the students on what type of mistakes they need to be corrected for. 

Бородатая шутка о том, что “учитель — это диагноз” — небезосновательна, ведь во внешкольной жизни мы часто можем учить всех вокруг, или исправлять, когда кто-то ошибается. Мем об учителе «I’m silently correcting your grammar», наверное, тоже придумали студенты, которых на уроках часто исправлял преподаватель. Но как быть? Действительно ли эффективным является постоянное перебивание и исправление ошибок, так сказать, не отходя от кассы? Не всегда. О том почему лучше исправлять ошибки через некоторое время и когда именно это нужно делать — далее в этой статье.

Что такое отложенная работа над ошибками?

В моей преподавательской практике за 14 лет бывали разные случаи. Например, одна студентка, пришла на первое занятие и попросила всегда ее исправлять. Она считала, что единственная правильная функция преподавателя — постоянно исправлять ошибки в речи студента. Человек был настолько зациклен на том, чтобы я ее постоянно поправляла, что у меня уже дергался глаз, а студентка снова делала одни и те же ошибки. Были и другие взрослые студенты настолько не уверенные в себе, что мне приходилось вытаскивать из них каждое слово. Если бы я исправляла все их ошибки, они бы так и не разговорились, и дальше боялись бы учить английский. Однажды ко мне пришел студент и после нашего первого урока отказался дальше заниматься, объяснив это тем, что я не исправила ни одной его ошибки сразу. Здесь должен быть facepalm 🙂

Однако, признаюсь, что были и такие студенты, которые подходили после занятия и благодарили меня за то, что я внимательно слушала их и все записывала во время разговора, а затем переносила свои заметки на доску, и мы вместе разбирали ошибки и исправляли их. Именно в этом и заключается техника delayed error correction или отложенной работы над ошибками.

Как правило, преподаватель дает положительный или отрицательный фидбэк через некоторое время после того, как студент совершил ошибку во время speaking, зачастую уже после того, как задания было полностью выполнено или даже в конце урока. Этот прием резко контрастирует с тем когда преподаватель, например, перефразирует предложения, использует мимику и жесты для того, чтобы исправить ошибку, и делает это сразу же после того как студент ошибся.

Отложенная работа над ошибками используется не всегда. Это зависит от того, какова цель урока, какие перед преподавателем студенты и от других факторов. Обычно delayed error correction используется во второй половине занятия, когда, вероятно, студенты будут «производить язык» (вести дискуссии / ролевые игры / составлять диалоги и т.д.). Выполняя такие задания они интегрируют «новый язык» (лексику или грамматику) в свою устную речь или в письмо. Ранее на занятии студенты вероятно изучали слова или грамматику, выполняли упражнения на точность и правильность (accuracy), а теперь настало время свободно использовать приобретенные знания. По этой причине преподаватель не станет перебивать студента, а даст ему возможность завершить свои мысли, запишет любые ошибки, которые он слышит, и вернется к ним в конце урока. Затем, после выполнения задания, преподаватель анонимно выводит на доску неправильно употребленные формы. На этом этапе урока студенты уже должны иметь достаточно знаний о формах, которые изучаются, чтобы легко найти и исправить ошибки.

Еще одной причиной, когда преподаватель может использовать отложенную работу над ошибками, является высокий уровень беспокойства студента или студентов. Иногда это мешает сосредоточиться на лексике или грамматике, которая изучается. Поэтому более эффективным и менее стрессовым будет предоставление фидбэка об ошибках всей группе, а не индивидуально каждому студенту, после того, как они, например, работали в парах.

ЧИТАЙТЕ ТАКЖЕ: Co-teaching: когда вы — не единственный преподаватель

Какие преимущества отложенной работы над ошибками?

Кроме того, что delayed error correction демонстрирует неравнодушие и заинтересованность преподавателя, в том, чтобы студент успешно использовал новые лексику и грамматику в своей речи, есть и другие плюсы:

• отложенная работа над ошибками помогает избежать прерывания студентов во время практики свободного говорения, когда они больше сосредоточены на самовыражении, чем на точности. Это время учитель использует на то, чтобы подумать о том, как исправить ошибку или стоит ли ее вообще исправлять;
• когда ошибки появляются на доске, студенты имеют возможность самостоятельно исправить себя и лучше понять и запомнить ошибку;
• такое исправление ошибок вполне анонимное, а потому не влияет на уверенность студентов, а наоборот, укрепляет ее;
• когда преподаватель сосредотачивается на ошибках, которые студенты сделали на уроке в тот день, занятие становится более персонализированным, более адаптированным под эту отдельную группу;
• преподаватель записывает не только ошибки, но и, на первый взгляд, грамматически правильные высказывания, которые могут звучать несколько нелепо. Например, дословный перевод с украинского на английский. Это делается для того, чтобы потом вместе со студентами найти или предложить более «английский» эквивалент, и тем самым предоставить вам лексику или грамматику, которая существенно улучшит ваш уровень английского.

Так что не стоит волноваться из-за того, что преподаватель не сразу исправил ошибку студента. Как показывает опыт, отложенная работа над ошибками может стать достаточно конструктивной как для студентов, так и для педагога. Ошибки — это важная часть изучения любого языка, а преподаватель заинтересован, чтобы вы говорили по-английски уверенно. Доверьтесь профессионалу, попробуйте что-то новое и насладитесь процессом. 

СОВЕТУЕМ ПРОЧИТАТЬ: Как выполнять задания Use of English на экзаменах по английскому?

The Correction Dilemma

Few of us would argue that correction is one of the most important things we can provide as language teachers. Taking someone’s own, often carefully crafted response or utterance and helping them to perfect it is something that students often only receive in the classroom. This makes it valuable, desired and ultimately expected by your students.

The reason that students value the correction they receive inside the classroom so much is because they simply don’t get it on the outside. This seems especially so in English, where cultural politeness prevents most natives from correcting grammar mistakes as long as they understand the speaker (and the rest of the time we may just smile and nod!).

However, if used incorrectly or too frequently it can have a disastrous effect on fluency, confidence and morale. The goal of correcting every mistake is not only nigh on impossible, but is detrimental to students.

Constantly interrupting your learners to correct minor mistakes can be distracting and demoralising. It will make students feel under pressure and begin to obsess over accuracy. When they obsess over accuracy their fluency will take a back seat. And what is the point in learning a language without efficient, fluent communication being the primary goal?

What to Correct

So if correction is so crucial, how do you hit that sweet spot between effective and destructive?

Choosing what to correct is half the battle. Remember that correction should always have the students’ interests at heart, and should only be done in situations that allow them to grow as language speakers. Therefore I recommend that you consider the following four points;

• Be selective – Don’t flag up an elementary student for using the past simple instead of the past perfect continuous. If they’re trying out language that’s above their current ability, let it slide. Focus on correcting things around or just above their level.
• Be supportive – When they do make a mistake, make sure not to patronise them or make them feel ‘singled out’. Promote a culture of learning from your mistakes as a positive thing.
• Be informative – Make sure that what you’re correcting is genuinely useful. Let’s say a student has accidentally mispronounced the brand ‘Mitsubishi’ when talking about their weekend. If the lesson is not about cars or any subject that would involve that word, let it go. There’s only so much vocabulary they can learn in a day. You will have to let some of it pass by – especially at lower levels.
• Be collaborative – Don’t make it about the person, make it about the error. Involve the whole class in every mistake and let learners solve errors together.

When to Correct

As well as carefully choosing what to correct, it’s also a matter of when. It’s important to understand that there is a time and a place for highlighting errors. When a mistake is made in my classroom, my thought process goes something like this…

On the Spot Correction

How do we correct effectively ‘on the spot?’ Contrary to how I’ve seen some teachers behave (often in my own experiences as a student in high school), it is not about simply stopping the learner and preventing them from continuing until they fix the error. When a learner makes an error that requires ‘on the spot’ correction, it’s important to try and follow the below process.

1. Wait for the student to finish their sentence. ‘On the spot’ correction doesn’t mean that general social constructs cease to exist! Let the student finish their sentence before speaking up.
2. Respond to their sentence, or praise them in some way for their attempt. Some kind of response to the learner is crucial here, before you correct anything. Assuming they have made themselves understood, respond to them. If they’ve given you an opinion or information about themselves, answer in a way that you would when speaking naturally with a native speaker. This keeps learners motivated because they are making real, practical conversation and they understand that they have successfully got their information across in their L2.
3. Clearly and respectfully draw their attention to the error. There are many ways of verbal and non-verbal highlighting of errors (it’s a whole blog post in itself!). Generally speaking, a non verbal indication is better to avoid repeating the error as this can lead to confusion. Using the example of a mispronounced word, you could choose to write the word on the board. Another method is to simply repeat up to the mistake, then gesture for the rest of the sentence. Whichever way you prefer, be sure to be clear and efficient at highlighting exactly where the mistake was.
4. Offer the student the first opportunity to make the correction. As tempting as it often can be, the only time you should really be giving the student the correct answer straight away is when the word or grammar structure is somewhat above their level or a little irrelevant to the current subject and you don’t want to open a proverbial ‘can of worms’. You should give the student the first opportunity to correct themselves.
5. Open the correction up to the class. If the student can’t correct themselves, offer the question to the rest of the class. As well as turning a mistake into a learning opportunity for everyone, if you regularly follow this method of correction the class will always be listening to other students when they speak, aware that they may be called upon to help with the corrections. This is invaluable for creating the right atmosphere in your classroom and is useful for maintaining concentration among larger groups.
6. Prompt them or give it to them. If they still can’t give you the answer, there are two options. If you’re certain that they should know the answer at this stage of the course, help them by giving them a prompt. This could be the first letter or syllable of a piece of vocabulary, or it could be a quick gap fill on the board. If, however, you’re not convinced that they have ever come across the phrase before, you can now provide the answer.
7. Cover the meaning, pronunciation and form of the answer. Don’t just think that giving them the answer is the end of it, however. Even if you managed to elicit the answer from the student or a classmate, you have identified a gap in their knowledge that you should look to fill. With the class, clarify the meaning of the new language and drill the pronunciation. Make a note of the word on the board and include it in your vocabulary recycling later in the lesson.

In practise, these seven steps will probably take just thirty seconds or so, even if you have to cover them all. Does it seem like a lot of work? I thought so too when I started to integrate this process into my teaching, but after just a few days it became second nature. Besides, these unscripted moments may be the most memorable and important learning opportunities in your whole lesson!

You see, this kind of learning that occurs when a student attempts to say something from the heart, but cannot, is the most natural way to acquire new language that you can hope for in a classroom. You should pounce on these moments, record them, recycle them and above all, you should encourage them.

Delayed Error Correction

What is delayed correction? In short, it’s one of the best tools for nurturing fluency and confidence in your classroom. It is correcting mistakes without shyness or shame, and it can be a fun, engaging activity for the whole class to take part in.

Delayed Error Correction (DEC for short) is about making discreet notes when mistakes are made and returning to them later in the lesson to be corrected together. It should be a regular part of every language teacher’s lesson structure, and should be used frequently to nurture fluency and allow students to ‘get on with it’.

For me, at least one DEC stage is the first thing on my lesson plan, and I generally add a couple more throughout the lesson as the need arises and depending on the activities.

So how do we do it?

1. Monitor the students quietly throughout the activity. Delayed correction requires the teacher to carefully listen to the students while they complete their pair and group tasks. Monitor closely enough to hear, but not so close that you become a distraction or a resource to ask for information. This is their moment to speak, and they should be free to train their fluency without fear of making mistakes.
2. Make notes of any relevant information. I hesitate to use the word ‘mistakes’ here. DEC isn’t just about highlighting errors, although you should certainly be making notes of common issues or problems with target language from the lesson. DEC is about highlighting anything that may be useful or encouraging for your students. For more information on this, see the infographic below.
3. Choose the most interesting, relevant and important for your DEC stage. Using your list, at the end of the activity or lesson you should have a handful of different examples of good language use, areas that need to be worked on and hopefully some interesting new language.
4. Praise everyone, focusing on the examples of strong language use. Repeating and highlighting strong language use from a couple of students reinforces to the class that the teacher is listening to them, and builds confidence in you as a both an educator and as a person. Make sure to be generous but sincere with your praise, and to spread it evenly amongst all the students throughout the course.
5. Get feedback from a few students who had interesting language to share. Use this opportunity to naturally focus on some of that interesting language you noted. For example, if one of the students was using some vocabulary for local holiday traditions that you found interesting, or perhaps used an archaic turn of phrase where you’d like to offer a more colloquial or fun expression, elicit it from them and use the opportunity to start a quick class discussion about it.
6. Finally, look at the issues. By completing the previous two stages you have succeeded in treating your students as individuals and praised and encouraged them on their language use. Now, only after these stages, is it time to offer some correction. This should be done collaboratively, and you should try and turn the mistakes into gap fills or write the sentences incorrectly and get the class to solve them in pairs. Giving learners the chance to solve their own mistakes promotes autonomy and self correction, two things often lacking in many adult students due to their own experiences at school.

It’s important here that you change any information in the answers that would identify the learner who made the mistake, even to themselves. It’s discouraging to be singled out, so if someone used the wrong tense when talking about their sister, change ‘sister’ to ‘brother’ to suggest that perhaps it wasn’t ‘their’ mistake.

Sometimes your students may make no errors at all with the target language, but this doesn’t mean you get to skip this stage! Invent some errors that could have feasibly been made by the students, and use them to create the activity. Your students will have an extra opportunity to consolidate their learning, and they will benefit from having this as a regular part of their class routine.

Correcting Correctly

By diversifying how we correct our learners, we are adapting to their needs based on the language goals of a particular activity, rather than treating language learning as a simple ‘painting by numbers’. Both ‘on the spot’ and delayed correction methods are invaluable in their own way, and it’s up to us as teachers to implement them in a way that is both supportive and engaging.

Making mistakes and learning from them is how we learnt to speak as babies, but as we get older that shame of making a mistake develops and often never quite goes away. It is one of the hardest things to break down as a language teacher, but if you can transform the culture of your classroom into a place where students are encouraged to push themselves, and be rewarded with extra opportunities to learn when they make mistakes, you’ll in turn be rewarded with greater fluency and more confident students.

This is part one in our series ‘Nurturing and Promoting Conversation in the Classroom’. Sign up to our newsletter and never miss a post, or follow us on the social media links on this page.

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Современные
подходы к исправлению ошибок в устной речи при
изучении иностранного языка

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Считается, что ошибки это неотъемлемая
часть процесса учения, а их исправление – часть
процесса обучения. Когда преподаватель говорит:
“В этом упражнении полно ошибок” или “Пишут они
хорошо, но вот разговорная речь изобилует
ошибками”, мы без труда понимаем, что он имеет в
виду. Но если мы внимательнее рассмотрим эту
проблему, то придём к выводу, что общее значение
слова “ошибка” намного шире и отображает
различные явления в использовании языка. Поэтому
возникают сомнения, всегда ли и все ли ошибки
следует исправлять?

I. Причины ошибок:

1. Влияние родного языка.

Родной язык влияет на правильность
фонетического оформления изучаемого языка.
Специалисты по акценту могут определить, откуда
родом говорящий. Так, например, немцам трудно
произносить “с” в начале слова перед гласной,
поэтому вместо “солнца” получается “золнце”, а
для русскоговорящих характерно оглушение
согласных на конце слова.

Эта причина также влияет на словарный
запас и грамматику. Когда ученик не знает, как
выразить ту или иную мысль на языке, он прибегает
к помощи слов или конструкций родного языка. Так,
например, он может спросить “Have you fire? (lighter)”,
“Would you like to be the queen of beauty?”

2. Нечёткое знание правил.

Так ученик, знающий, что прошедшее
время глагола образуется при помощи ed, может
сказать: “I growed up in Russia”. Или же ученик может
неверно применять правила. Так некоторые при
изучении сравнительных степеней прилагательных
делают ошибки типа: “Your dog is more bigger than mine.”

3. Учащиеся допускают ошибки, не
задумываясь о правильности конструкций, а из
принципа: хоть что-нибудь да сказать.

4. От невнимательности.

II. Классификация ошибок

(с точки зрения преподавателя)

1. Ошибки – оговорки (slips).

К этому типу относятся ошибки,
которые учащийся может исправить сам, если на них
указать.

Пример: She left college two years ago and now work as
a secretary.

2. Ошибки, сделанные в пройденном
материале (errors).

К этому типу относятся ошибки,
которые ученик не может исправить
самостоятельно, даже если на них указать, но
класс знаком с правильной формой.

Пример: That was the first English film which I have
understood it.

3. Ошибки, допущенные в неизученном
материале (attempts).

К этому типу относятся ошибки,
сделанные в незнакомых структурах, или же, когда
не ясно, что учащийся хочет сказать, и какую форму
он пытается использовать в предложении для
выражения своей мысли.

Пример: This no really for always my time…

Данная классификация основана на
знании учителем своих учеников, т.к. для одного
ошибка в подобного рода предложениях может быть slip,
для другого – error, а для третьего – attempt. А
также это может быть продвижением учащегося в
изучении языка от attempt до slip.

Говоря об исправлениях, нужно прежде
всего ответить на вопрос, всегда ли это уместно
во время устной речи. Задача учителя – помочь
учащимся овладеть навыком общения на языке, и
иногда это лучше делать, не прибегая к постоянным
исправлениям. Когда же учитель может не
исправлять ошибки? Тогда, когда он уделяет
внимание смыслу высказывания, т.к. чем больше мы
сосредотачиваемся на том, что говорит учащийся,
тем меньше следим за правильностью
грамматических форм.

Пример:
Учитель: Why are you so late, Peter?
Ученик: I’m sorry, my grandmother is take to hospital.

Конечно же, ошибки в устной речи
учащихся необходимо замечать (запоминать,
записывать), но в момент ответа не следует
акцентировать на них внимание, тем самым
развивая беглость речи, не нарушая
коммуникативной направленности высказывания.
Учащиеся должны привыкнуть к тому, что они
являются источником информации. Изучаемый язык
– инструмент, с помощью которого они получают и
передают информацию в искусственно созданной
ситуации общения в классе. Исправления должны
выступать здесь как форма напоминания учащимся о
конструкциях нормативного английского языка, но
ни в коем случае не как критика ответа.

III. Методы исправления ошибок.

Хотелось бы сразу оговориться, что
каждый метод имеет как положительные, так и
отрицательные стороны. Это важно учитывать при
выборе того или иного способа работы с
материалом.
Рассмотрим один из методов на примере упражнения
“ответы на вопросы”. После того, как учащийся
дал ответ, учитель делает паузу, чтобы другие
учащиеся решили, правильно или нет выполнено
задание. Если правильно, то нужно продолжить
выполнение упражнения. Если же допущена ошибка,
то первое к чему нужно прибегнуть – это
исправление ошибки тем, кто её допустил (self-correction).
Очень важно использовать эту форму
исправления, если Вы считаете, что ошибка —slip.
Поэтому не спешите исправлять ошибку сами, а
укажите на неё выражением лица, жестом, затем
дайте время учащемуся подумать и дать правильный
ответ.
Если же учащийся не может исправить ошибку
самостоятельно, необходимо прибегнуть к другому
методу – это помощь класса (peer correction).

Пример:
Тренировка постановки вопроса в Present Indefenite.
Peter: What time you usually come back home?
Teacher: (выражение удивления)
Teacher: Can anyone help us? Yes, Kate.
Kate: What time do you usually come back home?

Учитель должен попросить допустившего
ошибку повторить правильное предложение.

Положительные стороны метода:

• сосредоточенность всего класса на
  виде деятельности;

• учитель может проверить, слышат ли
  ученики ошибки;

• воспитательные моменты (развитие
  взаимопомощи и сотрудничества);

• хорошая тренировка для дальнейшей
  работы в парах, т.к. при этой форме организации
  деятельности учитель не может проконтролировать
  все ошибки во время подготовки учащимися ответа.

Отрицательные стороны метода:

• несколько желающих ответить (следует
  спросить того, кто не поднял руки, т.к. нет никакой
  пользы, если исправляют одни и те же);

• привыкнут к такому виду деятельности.

Если Вы видите, что ни сам учащийся, ни
класс не могут исправить ошибку, то это должны
сделать Вы. Итак, третий метод – teacher correction.

Пример: The radio was invent by Popov.

• можно показать на пальцах, где каждый
  палец – это определённая часть слова (слог), и
  сделать паузу в месте ошибки;

• повторить предложение целиком,
  интонационно выделив место ошибки;

• Вы даёте правильную форму и просите
  класс повторить предложение.

Все три метода можно использовать во
взаимосвязи.

Рассмотрим пример:

Kate: I need a pen.
Peter: What colour?
Kate: A blue ONE, please.
Peter: Here you are.
Kate: Thank you
Teacher: Fine. Kate, what did you say when he asked about the colour?
Kate: A blue ONE, please.
Teacher: I don’t think that sounds right. Anyone?
Sasha: Maybe she should say “a BLUE one”?
Teacher: Yes, you are choosing the colour, so stress it.

Здесь используется peer correction, чтобы Kate
услышала правильный вариант; teacher correction при
объяснении; нужно попросить Kate повторить
предложение – self-correction.

IV. Дополнительные методы исправления.

1. Отсроченное исправление (delayed correction)

После того, как класс выполнил
упражнение, учитель может предложить
самостоятельное задание на отработку материала
– работа в парах. Что, если кто-то во время
подготовки допускает ошибки? Задача учителя
состоит в мониторинге группы с целью убедиться,
что все работают. Учитель может остановить
учеников, если слышит, что задание выполняется
неправильно. В остальных случаях его роль
сводится к записи ошибок. Если часто повторяется
одна и та же ошибка, то после выполнения всеми
задания, учитель должен акцентировать на ней
внимание при помощи peer correction. Это сложный вид
работы для учителя, но его положительные стороны
в том, что учитель даёт учащимся свободу и
возможность проявить себя.

Эффективна также будет игровая
деятельность. Можно подготовить карточки с
типичными ошибками и карточки с правильным
вариантом. Каждому ученику раздать, например, по
три карточки той и другой категории. Задача
учеников – понять, на какой из карточек есть
ошибка, обойти группу и найти парную карточку с
правильным предложением.

Пример: Ученику досталась карточка I
have pen. Он ищет карточку I have a pen.

Иногда необходимо прибегнуть к
объяснению, но лучше будет, если учащиеся сами
попробуют объяснить, т.к.:

• им нужно будет использовать
  терминологию, следовательно лучше запомнят;

• учитель проверит, что усвоено и как
  ученики могут объяснить правило своими словами.

2. Group work. Observer

Учащиеся работают в группах. Например,
трое обсуждают данное им задание, четвёртый
слушает и отмечает ошибки (observer). Задача
учителя сделать так, чтобы каждый оказался в роли
“наблюдателя”, объяснив, в чём именно
заключаются его функции:

• должен следить за ошибками в группе;

• должен записывать ошибки как
  грамматические, так и ошибки, связанные с
  нарушением этикета общения;

• не должен исправлять их сразу;

• не должен мешать группе, прерывая
  замечаниями.

Положительные стороны метода:

• учащиеся сами следят за
  правильностью речи;

• более сильные ученики могут помочь
  слабым;

• эффективен вариант, когда observer
  записывает предложения, в которых были сделаны
  ошибки, на родном языке, потом зачитывает их а
  группа переводит.

Задача преподавателя заключается не
столько в акцентировании внимания на разнице
“ученического английского” и “нормативного
английского”, сколько в создании мотивации
путём поощрения “learning steps”. Но иногда всё
получается наоборот: если каждый раз указывать
на ошибки, учащийся, боясь допустить их,
произносит заведомо правильные простые
конструкции или просто молчит. Это не даёт ему
возможность экспериментировать с языком в
поисках лучших, более ярких способов выражения
мысли. Учитель должен решить:

• исправлять ошибки или нет;

• когда исправлять;

• что исправлять;

• как исправлять.

Мы надеемся, что данный анализ поможет
Вам выбрать верный путь, чтобы обучение стало ещё
более эффективным и увлекательным занятием.

Библиография:

1. Julian Edge, Mistakes and Corrections, Longman, 1989
2. ELT News & Views issue No. 2(5), ДИНТЕРНАЛ, International Book
Distribution, 1998

С.Г. Меркулова,
преподаватель кафедры английской филологии
и методики преподавания ГНИ, Москва

Error Correction Techniques

HOT or COLD?

As English teachers, we know that making mistakes is the proof of learning, but the question is how we can handle these mistakes. We need to sharpen our error correction skills in order not to demotivate our students.

There are two kinds of error correction techniques:

1. Hot correction: As soon as we notice a student making an error while we are presenting the language or practicing activities, we can ask CCQs (concept checking questions) that focus on meaning and form.We should encourage self correction first and then peer correction if needed.

Also within hot correction, we can use Quick fire Drills, these are:

• Repetition drills: In this type,teacher first models the target language then students at first drill chorally, then individually.
• Backchaining: For longer utterences this is a useful type. In it the language is in chunks and it is drilled from the end backwards.

e.g. If I see him, I’ll tell him.

t: tell him

Ss: tell him

t: I’ll tell him

Ss: I’ll tell him

t: see him I’ll tell him

Ss: see him I’ll tell him

t: If I see him I’ll tell him

Ss: If I see him I’ll tell him

• Transformation drills: to manipulate a grammatical structure, this type is a good one.

t: I’ve got some apples. Negative?

S1: I haven’t got any apples.

t: He has got some peers. Negative?

S2: He hasn’t got any pears.

• Chain drill: This type focuses more on sts. and it’s a bit more complicated.

S1: I like swimming.

t: So do I.

S2: I like riding a bike.

t: So do I.

Students then do the drill:

S1: I like swimming.

S2: So do I. I like reading.

S3: So do I. I like playing golf. etc.

2. Cold correction: In order not to interrupt the learner during a speaking activity- as we are focusing more on oral fluency- , we need to monitor and record the language of the learner to focus on the errors when the activity is complete.

Besides speaking activities, we can use cold correction with writing activities as well. We can have them write a text in class or at home and after checking the texts, we can choose one sentence from each student’s text that has an error in it. After that we can use these sentences in the class to give whole class feedback without addressing the students.

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Published by aysungüneş

I have been teaching English for over 12 years legally, but before that I worked at many private courses and gave private lessons in Ankara during my college years. I’m passionate about my job and open to novelties about my area of interest which is the integration of technology in ELT. I’m holding a BA degree in American Literature, which taught me to read between lines and also I’m still an MA student in Distance Learning at Anadolu University. After I got CELTA certificate, I saw that the most important thing for teachers is to keep learning and refreshing themselves with bright new ideas and practices. CPD plays an important role for me and with the social media I’m enlarging my PLN to know more professionals from all around the world. View all posts by aysungüneş

Is there any relationship between the classroom procedures of the audio lingual method and Quick fire Drills?

Источник

ABC for beginning teachers (error correction)

Мария Цедрик

Сертифицированный преподаватель (TKT 2,3, YL, CELTA, IELTS, TOEFL)

Students shouldn’t be afraid of using the wrong tense or omitting an article as making mistakes is the proof of learning, but the question is how teachers handle these mistakes. Too much error-correction can demotivate students, on the other hand, to let the conversation flow and not to correct any mistakes can also cause some problems in the future. The difficulty, of course, is in finding the middle ground. What should we correct, when should we correct it, and how should it be corrected?

Step 1 — Identify the reason for making mistakes ( what to correct):

1. L1 interference — happens when the learner’s mother tongue affects performance in the target language. For example, learners make grammatical mistakes because they apply the same grammatical patterns as in their L1.
Read more in “ Learner English ”, a practical reference guide which compares the relevant features of a student’s own language with English, helping teachers to predict and understand the problems their students have. It has chapters focusing on major problems of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and other errors.
2. A developmental error — an error that occurs as a natural part of the learning process when a learner tries to say something that is above their level of language.
3. Overgeneralization of a rule — the process of extending the application of a rule to items that are excluded from it in the language norm.
4. A fossilized error — the process in which incorrect language becomes a habit and cannot easily be corrected.
5. A slip — a mistake made by a learner because they are not attentive or tired.
6. The nature of English — some set collocations, idiomatic expressions may cause errors.
7. Bad model — students learnt poor example and incorrect language from any available resources.

Some tips:

• We shouldn’t correct slips as they happen not because students don’t know the material but are caused by tiredness, inattention or just having too much to think about at the time.
• We should be careful with correcting developmental errors. Making such errors is a natural part of learning a language. You may just ignore them, as the student hasn’t studied the essential material yet or you can just articulate the correct sentence and that you are going to study that grammar or vocabulary later.
• We must correct all other types of mistakes, but don’t try to correct all the mistakes students make, choose ones which are relevant to the lesson/topic/activity.

Step 2 — Choose the best time to correct ( when )

There are two kinds of error correction:

1. Hot correction — as soon as we notice a student making an error.
2. Cold correction ( delayed error correction ) — in order not to interrupt the learner during a speaking activity- as we are focusing more on oral fluency, we need to monitor and record the language of the learner to focus on the errors when the activity is complete. Conduct an error correction after the activity of at the end of the lesson.

Some tips:

• Use hot error correction during the presentation of the target language or controlled practice, as we are more focused on accuracy here. You should encourage SELF CORRECTION n first and then peer correction if needed, therefore ask CCQs (concept checking questions) that focus on meaning and form.
• Use cold (delayed) error correction while students are doing freer activity. Monitor the students and take notes of mistakes.

Step 3 — Choose an error correction technique ( how )

There are many ways to correct errors:

Non verbal:

1. Finger correction — use fingers to show the mistake in the sentence.

2. Gestures — every teacher has a set of gestures to show students they’ve made a mistake. Teachers might gesture backwards with their hands to show students they haven’t used the verb in the past. Students often use the wrong pronouns, for example “ She walked your dog. ” You can point to yourself with a look of shock or surprise.

3. F acial expressions — when a student makes a mistake you can use an exaggerated facial expression to signal the mistake.
4. Cards (visual reminders) — some students often omit “-s”, “be”, etc. So you can just prepare a card with a big “S” or “AM/IS/ARE” and raise it every time students do this mistake, students instantly know they should go back and say it again. Later, you can just stick an empty card on the desk and point at it when necessary.
5. Visual analysis — write the sentence on the board and highlight indicators, question marks, everything that might help the student to correct the mistake, e.g.:

Verbal:

6. Repeat up to the error — repeat the whole sentence up to the error and make a pause waiting for the student to say the correct word/phrase. If the student has a difficulty correcting the mistake, give options.

S: My mum is really interesting in politics.

T: Your mum is really …

T: InterestING or interestED?

7. Demonstrate more examples — elicit or demonstrate more sentences with the same vocabulary or constructions.

S: I love SHocolate.

T: Read the words “chair, chicken”, now read this word “CHocolate”

8. Echoing — echo the mistake with emphasis on the mistake.

S: He like listening to rock music.

S: He likeS listening to rock music.

9. Ask for clarification — ask your student to repeat the sentence.

S: I went to the magazine.

T: Sorry? Where did you go?

10. Recast — reformulate the utterance into a correct version (emphasising the place of the mistake) and encourage to continue the conversation.

S: Yesterday I went in the shop.

T: Oh really, you went TO shop. Which shop?

!!Try to elicit the corrections as much as possible. Get students to fix their own mistakes.

What error correction techniques do you prefer?

Источник

Error correction in the ELT classroom

In English language teaching, error correction is something which is expected of teachers, so what error correction techniques are there to make the most out of the errors we correct? And how can we make sure that correction is helping our students?

As teachers, we are told that error correction is necessary. However, the value of error correction has long been discussed. Is what we are doing enough or should we stop altogether? In our post-method, eclectic, throw-everything-at-them-and-something-is-bound-to-stick era we need to be aware of the options available so we can decide what is best for us and our students.

Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re wrong

Expert opinions on error correction have evolved over the years. Take a look at these quotes and consider which one most closely represents your personal opinion.

• Like sin, error is to be avoided and its influence overcome, but its presence is to be expected – Brooks (1960)
• Error correction is a serious mistake because it puts students on the defensive and causes them to avoid complex constructions – Krashen (1982)
• You should tell students they are making mistakes, insist on accuracy and ask for repetition – Harmer (1983)
• There is a place for correction, but we should not overestimate it – Ur (1996)
• Feedback on learners’ performance in an instructional environment presents an opportunity for learning to take place – Larsen-Freeman (2003)
• Correction works best when done in context at the time the learner makes the error – Mackay (2007)

From error being seen as sin during the height of audiolingualism to viewing error as opportunity to learn, errors and correction have been a hotly debated topic in the ELT world.

This is why there is such a challenge for teachers. We must withdraw ourselves from our opinions and expectations in order to evaluate students on an individual level when it comes to errors. We then have to balance this with an institutional and cultural expectation to be corrected in the classroom.

Importantly, we have to ensure the learner has understood the correction, internalised it and improved their personal language system or interlanguage.

Interlanguage is a concept that refers to each learner’s personal knowledge of a 2nd language. It is the language which they know as they have learned it with potential for influence from their 1st language and overgeneralization of certain rules learned about their 2nd language. Hence the potential for error.

A learner’s interlanguage is unique to them. It is all they are able to use to communicate and it is what, as teachers, we are aiming to improve in each class, even in each interaction we have with students.

What is an error?

In ELT there have traditionally been two categories, errors and slips.

Errors happen when a learner doesn’t have sufficient knowledge of the language. This could occur when they have never been exposed the language and make an error because they have no prior knowledge to refer to. These are known as attempts. Or errors could come from the language having been acquired incorrectly and as far as they are concerned they are correct. These are fossilized errors.

Slips are the opposite end of the error spectrum. Slips happen when a learner knows the language but due to the speed of conversation or other factors, they say or write something incorrect. These are often self-corrected or ignored. They even happen to native speakers when we mispronounce a word or mix up words in an idiom that we’ve used a million times. One interesting thing to note is that even at the highest bands of C2 level, Cambridge writing scales say that inaccuracies that occur as slips are perfectly acceptable. They are not something to be punished.

Personally, I think there a bit of a gap here. We need something to fill in the middle ground. That is what I refer to as mistakes. Mistakes happen when a learner forgets the language that they have already acquired. It’s not that they don’t have the language, it’s that they haven’t accessed it correctly. Typical mistakes would come from L1 influence and often involve the use of false cognates or word order. The over-application of L1 rules in L2 frequently causes mistakes. This could happen to native speakers too, especially children. The typical example is when they conjugate an irregular past verb incorrectly (e.g. teached) because they have learnt a new rule and they start applying it too much.

When should we correct?

Correcting errors

Errors are the most difficult to correct, because not only are you providing a correction, you are also providing the knowledge necessary to fill the student’s gap in understanding. Errors should always be corrected, however, you need to be very careful about when and how to correct them.

We’ve all been in the situation where we try to correct an error quickly, only to get pulled down a rabbit hole where before we know it the board is covered in example sentences, phonemes and an explanation of the present perfect continuous. So correction of errors has to be structured and formulated in a way that allows students to recognise how to form the correct language, but without breaking the flow of the class.

Correcting mistakes

Mistakes should be dealt with completely differently. Mistakes are not due to lack of knowledge. Therefore, if you delay correction, the student will look at the error and instantly know what the problem is. They will think something along the lines of “Oh yeah, I knew that”. So what have we achieved as a teacher at that point? We haven’t helped to fill any gaps in knowledge.

That’s why mistakes should be corrected the moment they are made, even during a fluency activity. If you correctly identified the problem as a mistake, not an error, the correction should be quick and easy.

Correcting slips

Slips don’t need to be corrected at all. Slips are like your mother always confusing you and your sibling’s names. You know that she knows who you are, she just can’t ever seem to get it right. Correcting your mother may be satisfying for you as the corrector, but it’s not going to help her understand better who you are. And it might just make her flustered.

Correction in exam preparation classes

This is a blog about exam preparation after all. In many ways, everything that applies to error correction in general also applies to exam preparation classes. However, if anything, correction is even more important and even more expected. In general, we want our students to achieve successful communication and be intelligible. Unfortunately, for exams, this is often not enough.

The burden of correction falls even harder on the exam teacher. Insist on accuracy and demand the most of your students. They will thank you for it in the end.

Error correction techniques

There are many different types of error correction. Some of these we are taught how to do, while some of them come naturally. Some of them we would use in normal everyday situations.

Have you ever been in a shop and someone walks up to you to ask you where something is because they think you work there? How would you correct that person? You would probably say “I don’t work here” and for some reason apologise for their mistake. What you wouldn’t do is launch into a long explanation of why you choose to be an English teacher, not a shop assistant. And you wouldn’t start miming confusion and pointing across the shop to the employees who do work there.

That’s because certain correction techniques work better in some situations than others. Some work better for one type of error than for another. As teachers in the post-method era, we need to have an extensive bank of error correction techniques that we can dip into whenever we feel it’s necessary.

That’s our responsibility as teachers, to have the knowledge to be able to employ different techniques in different contexts.

Classic error correction techniques

Any and all of these correction techniques are acceptable and recommendable in the classroom. However, it is your role as a teacher to choose the best form of correction for the moment you correct.

Studies have shown, for example, that recasts, despite being the most common form of correction, are often overlooked. Students don’t notice they are being corrected. This happened more often with groups of Italian students than it did with groups of Japanese students. That’s because Japanese students have a significantly different mentality towards learning languages and were more attuned to the recast being an opportunity to learn.

Similarly, some students may like having their errors highlighted and displayed on the board after an activity while for others this could cause substantial embarrassment, thus lowering their motivation and causing them to avoid complex language in future interactions in order to avoid error in the future.

This is why we have to have a bag of tricks when it comes to error correction. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Adapted error correction techniques

While all of the above techniques are useful and acceptable depending on the context and circumstances, there is definitely a way to make error correction more interesting and ensure you are improving your students’ interlanguage.

Here are a couple of ideas that I have found to be effective:

Post-it correction

• Write errors on post-its or small pieces of paper.
• Slip those papers to the pair or group when they are done with the activity.
• They work together to write corrections on the same paper.

• Students are correcting their own errors rather than the smartest student in the group correcting everyone’s errors.
• Great for fast finishers.
• Post-its are fun.

Error collection

• Keep a record of errors on Google Slides or Quizlet.
• Add to this record whenever there is a recurrent error.
• Use as a warmer or cooler to recycle correction.
• Can be adapted into games like back-to-the-board.

• Helps with fossilised errors.
• Avoids the judgemental effect of constantly correcting the same mistake.
• Can be shared with students.

Stem correction

• Write only the stem of the incorrect sentence on the board.
• Students think of different ways to finish the sentence correctly.
• The mistake is never explicitly stated, but the student who made it will probably realise that it was something they said.

• Helps students upgrade language.
• Forces students to notice the language.
• Takes the pressure off the teacher and the student.

Anticipation

• Think about the errors students always make, especially before a certain grammar point that you have taught before.
• Before the activity write them up on the board with a big cross through them. Tell the students to be careful about these mistakes.

• Reminds students to think before they misspeak.
• Can be used as a visual aid if anyone does make the mistake.
• Makes you look like a clairvoyant.

Conclusions

Whether you are teaching 1-to-1, exam preparation or conversation classes, ensure that error correction is present in all your lessons. The expectation for correction is clear and its benefit is established.

One of the best things you can do as a teacher is aid language acquisition through targeted and effective corrective feedback that embraces the concepts of noticing and demanding high while ensuring the advancement of learners’ individual language systems.

Источник

By Gabriel Clark

Let’s start this article with a bit of well-grounded research.

According to John Hattie’s epic meta-study on factors that impact learning the most, Visible Learning, providing feedback to your students is one of the most effective things you can do as a teacher. Let’s apply this logic to error correction…But how to do it?

There are a few common issues when it comes to error correction:
– We don’t like stopping our students’ flow mid-sentence.
– We don’t want long and boring error correction sessions.


– THEY KEEP MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES EVEN AFTER WE’VE DEALT WITH THEM A MILLION TIMES!

OK. I feel your pain. Let’s deal with this in stages ….

First of all, it’s important to bear in mind the difference between errors and mistakes. An error is when the student produces incorrect language, largely because of lack of knowledge.
 A mistake is an accident, a slip of the tongue. We all do it – even in our first language.

This system aims to deal with both errors and mistakes – or as I prefer to call them “knowledge issues” (errors) and “performance issues” (mistakes).

1. Make notes of incorrect sentences.

While the class is involved in a speaking task, don’t just monitor. Go one step further by documenting the incorrect language they’re using – make notes of the mistakes they make.
You might need to decide which ones are worth writing down and which ones aren’t. If only one student is making a particular type of mistake, then don’t worry about it, but if it’s an issue that most of the class has, then go for it.
NOTE: With higher-level learners, you may want to write down mistakes less often and start writing “upgradable” sentences – sentences the students make that are technically correct, but could sound more natural.

2. Chalk ‘em up! Write them on the board (and play a game).

Divide the class into two (or more) teams. Get them to choose their team names, and write up the sentences onto the board.
Tell the students to look at the sentences, try to find out what’s wrong with them, and “fix” them.
Get each team to write what they think is the correct form for each sentence on a piece of paper.
Write their answers on the board and award points to the team with the correct answer.

3. Work out which are knowledge issues and which are performance issues.

If the teams can answer the question easily, then it’s probably a performance issue. You don’t need to spend time on this, but make a mental note of these for error correction later.
 If the teams have issues with the mistake, then this is probably a knowledge issue, in which case, pause the game! You’ll need to spend a little time teaching the language feature here. Don’t go into detail, but just get the students aware of it and perhaps able to produce a few examples of it. You WILL be coming back to this in a later lesson when they make the same mistake again and it reappears on the board during error correction. Then continue with the game.

4. Consolidate these issues over time.

Next time you hear a student make a mistake, ask yourself “Did we cover this in previous error correction?” If the answer is “yes,” then it’s a performance issue, and that’s the time for immediate error correction. Just let your student know they’ve slipped up. (I usually say, “Can you just say that sentence again?”) They’ll pick up on your cues and hopefully, start self-correcting.

If the answer is “no,” then it’s probably a knowledge issue. In which case, write it down and save it for the next error correction session. The trick to this approach is “a little over a long time” rather than “everything all at once.”

Learning a language, like learning anything, requires a lot of repetition.

We can’t just teach the present perfect one day and expect our students to be using it immediately.

This technique works best when you use it with the same class over a prolonged period of time. This way, they’ll be reminded of each language issue in low intensity over a longer period of time, as opposed to all at once.