Error correction in foreign language teaching

Mistakes and errors are an inseparable part in process of learning foreign languages. Error correction and its importance in the foreign language classroom have received considerable attention during the past decades. According to Corder (1967), correcting learners’ errors is substantial in three different ways: First, they tell the teacher about the progress of the learner, and therefore what remains to be learnt. Second, they supply evidence of how a language is acquired and what strategies the learner employs in learning a language. Thirdly, they are indisputable to the learning process because making errors is regarded as a device the learner uses in order to learn.

Key words: error correction, error analysis (EA), global and local errors, ways of error correction.

Ошибки являются неотъемлемой частью процесса изучения иностранных языков. За последние десятилетия значительное внимание уделялось исправлению ошибок и их важности в классе иностранных языков. Согласно Кордер(1967), исправление ошибок учащихся является существенным по трем различным причинам: во-первых, они рассказывают учителю о прогрессе ученика, и, следовательно, о том, что еще предстоит узнать. Во-вторых, они свидетельствуют о том, как приобретается язык и какие стратегии использует учащийся для изучения языка. В-третьих, они бесспорны для процесса обучения, потому что ошибки рассматриваются как устройство, которое ученик использует для того, чтобы учиться.

Ключевые слова: исправление ошибок, анализ ошибок (АО), глобальные и локальные ошибки, способы исправления ошибок.

Nowadays, in modern life, learning any foreign language is becoming more acceptable and easy. But during learning process still learners and teachers face the errors which made the learners. And it is natural that if someone makes the mistake in learning process, but it is not good to correct his or her mistake on the spot. Learners and teachers of foreign languages cannot pass it without making any errors during learning process. Because, in learning and teaching foreign languages avoiding language mistakes or not correcting them can be the reason of avoiding speaking and writing in foreign language. Besides it, many scientists argued that making mistakes and correcting them is a good way to learn language easily. In this way, learners could work out on their mistakes. Where no one can predict what will work, people who try and fail have a higher probability of success than those who are doing nothing for fear of failure. So errors should be and should be corrected as well by teachers.

Errors and error correction is a complex problem for language teachers, a problem in which the following steps in the cases of decisions have to be run through. Errors must be identified, arranged, corrected, and in the majority of the cases they must also be evaluated.

What kind of errors should be corrected?

Learners’ errors are usually classified in different categories. Burt (1975) made a distinction between “global” and “local” errors. Global errors hinder communication and they prevent the learner from comprehending some aspects of the message. Local errors only affect a single element of a sentence, but do not prevent a message from being heard. According to Hendrickson (1980), global errors need not be corrected and they are generally held true. But the expressions such as “a news”, or “an advice” are systematic errors, and they need to be corrected. As for pre-systematic errors, teachers can simply provide the correct one. For systematic errors, since learners have already had the linguistic competence, they can explain this kind of errors and correct them themselves. So teachers just remind them when they commit such errors. As to what kind of errors should be corrected, it needs teachers’ intuition and understanding of errors. At the same time, the teacher should consider the purpose of the analysis and analyze them in a systematic way.

When to correct the errors?

Concerning this problem, the most controversial issue is to treat them immediately or to delay. First, we are confronted with a dilemma—fluency versus accuracy. For communicative purpose, delayed correction is usually preferred. Some advanced students believe that when to correct errors is determined by the type of errors committed. For instance, if they are pronunciation or grammatical errors, immediate correction is preferable, for post-correction cannot make learners remember anything. Furthermore, the overall situation in the classroom is also important. When the whole class is familiar with a word, but only one of them is singled out for being corrected, he or she would feel awkward. So, we can see that when to correct is very complicated. Both the teachers’ intuition and the feedback from the students are equally important.

How to correct the errors?

According to James (1998), it is sensible to follow the three principles in error correction. Firstly, the techniques involved in error correction would be able to enhance the students’ accuracy in expression. Secondly, the students’ affective factors should be taken into consideration and the correction should not be face-threatening to the students.

Some scholars believed that teachers’ indirect correction is highly appreciated. They either encourage students to do self-correction in heuristic method orpresent the correct form, so students couldn’t feel embarrassed. Compare the two situations:

(1) Student: “What means this word?”

Teacher: “No, listen, what does this word mean?”

(2) Student: “What means this word?”

Teacher: “What does it mean? Well, it is difficult to explain, but it means…”

It is obvious that teacher’s remodeling in (2) is more natural and sensible than the direct interruption in (1). Up till now, both the theory and the application have been illustrated, in the next section we are going to deal with both the significance and limitations of error analysis in language teaching and learning.

Significance and limitations of error analysis in language teaching and learning.

Firstly, by error analysis, teachers will get an overall knowledge about the students’ errors. Foreign language learning is a process of hypothesis and trial and error occurrence is inevitable. So the teacher should learn to tolerate some errors, especially some local errors. Secondly, errors can tell the teacher how far towards the goal the learner has progressed and consequently, what remains for him or her to learn. So students’ errors are valuable feedbacks. We can do some remedial teaching based on their errors. Thirdly, errors are indispensable to the learners themselves, for we can regard the making of mistakes as a device the learner employs in order to learn.

Finally, some errors need to be handled, otherwise, they will become fossilized. In a sense, error analysis theory together with other theories have enriched the foreign language learning theory in that learning involves in a process in which success comes by profiting from mistakes and by using mistakes to obtain feedback from the environment. With the feedback they make new attempts to achieve the more closely approximate desired goals.

Certainly, error analysis is significant, but it also has its limitations. First, there is a danger in too much attention to learners’ errors and in the classroom teacher tends to become so preoccupied with noticing errors that the correct utterance in the foreign language will go unnoticed. While the diminishing of errors is an important criterion for increasing language proficiency, the ultimate goal of second language learning is the attainment of communicative fluency in a language. Another shortcoming in error analysis is the overstressing of production data. Factually language comprehension is as important as production. It also happens that production lends itself to analysis and thus becomes the prey of researchers, but comprehension data is equally important in developing an understanding of the process of language acquisition. Thirdly, it fails to account for the strategy of avoidance. A learner who for one reason or another avoids a particular sound, word, structure or discourse category may be assumed incorrectly to have no difficulty therewith. The absence of error therefore does not necessarily reflect native like competence since learners may be avoiding the very structure that poses difficulty for them. Finally, error analysis can keep us too closely focused on specific languages rather than viewing universal aspects of language.

Ways of Correction.

There are several ways of correction that can be employed in the classroom.

Self-correction: After the student recognizes what is incorrect in his/her response, s/he should be able to correct him/herself. Self-correction is the best technique, because the student will remember it better.

Peer correction: If the student cannot correct him/herself the teacher can encourage other students to supply correction. This technique is to be applied tactfully, so that the student who originally made the mistake will not feel humiliated. In the case of errors, it is useful if after peer correction the teacher goes back to the student who made the error and gets him/her to say it correctly. Edge (1990) mentions the following advantages of peer correction:

– It encourages cooperation, students get used to the idea that they can learn from each other

– Both learners (who made the error and who corrects) are involved in listening to and thinking about the language

– The teacher gets a lot of important information about the learners’ ability — if students learn to practice peer correction without hurting each other’s feelings, they will do the same in pair-work activities. However, it may happen that whenever the teacher asks for peer correction from the whole class, it is always the same students who answer. In this case the teacher has to make sure that other students are involved as well.

Teacher correction: If no one can correct, the teacher must realize that the point has not yet been learnt properly. In that case the teacher can re-explain the problematic item of language, especially if the teacher sees that the majority of the class has the same problem. There might be more repetition and practice necessary. We must not forget that the main aim of correction is to facilitate the students to learn the new language item correctly. That is why it is important that after correction the teacher has to ask the student who originally made the error or mistake to give the correct response.

Conclusion

In order to improve teaching, we need to explore the learners’ psychological process in language learning so that we can enhance our understanding of learners’ errors. Based on the analysis of the causes of their errors, we provide our timely guide and help. In addition, while placing an emphasis on error correction in the classroom, we should take the teaching objectives, students’ linguistic competence, their affective factors and the effectiveness of the error correction into consideration. Consequently, we can employ more flexible strategies in error correction and make more contributions to the EFL classroom teaching and learning.

References:

1. Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching. Longman, Inc.
2. Burt, M. K. (1975). Error analysis in the adult EFL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 9: 53–63.
3. Corder, S.P. (1971). Idiosyncratic dialects and error analysis. International Review ofApplied Linguistics, (9): 147–159.
4. Hendrickson, J. M. (1980). Error correction in foreign language teaching: Recent theory, research, and practice // K. Croft. Readings on English as a second language (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Winthrop Publishers.
5. Jame, C. (1998). Errors in language learning and use. Addison Wesley Longman Limited.

ERROR CORRECTION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES TEACHING PROCESS Galiakberova A.R.

Galiakberova Albina Rinatovna — Senior Teacher of English, DEPARTMENT OF TEACHING LANGUAGES, MANAGEMENT IN PRODUCTION FACULTY, FERGANA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, FERGANA, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN

Abstract: the article under discussion depicts error correction in foreign languages teaching process, specifically in writing. The author of the article explains different ways to improve writing skills via peer editing which helps learners to clarify their lacks in particular sides of knowledge.

Keywords: proficiency, mistakes, peer editing, structured, ability, language acquisition, communicate, grammar, spelling, accuracy, clarify.

At all proficiency levels, learners produce language that is not exactly the language used by native speakers. Some of the differences are grammatical, while others involve vocabulary selection and mistakes in the selection of language appropriate for different contexts. In responding to student communication, teachers need to be careful not to focus on error correction to the detriment of communication and confidence building. Teachers need to let students know when they are making errors so that they can work on improving. Teachers also need to build students’ confidence in their ability to use the language by focusing on the content of their communication rather than the grammatical form. Teachers can use error correction to support language acquisition, and avoid using it in ways that undermine students’ desire to communicate in the language, by taking cues from context [1, p.p. 4-12].

When students are doing structured output activities that focus on development of new language skills, use error correction to guide them.

Example:

Student (in class): I buy a new car yesterday.

Teacher: You bought a new car yesterday. Remember, the past tense of buy is bought.

When students are engaged in communicative activities, correct errors only if they interfere with comprehensibility. Respond using correct forms, but without stressing them.

Example:

Student (greeting teacher): I buy a new car yesterday!

Teacher: You bought a new car? That’s exciting! What kind?

In writing error correction is done in a different way. One of the effective ways to correct mistakes is peer editing. It is considered to be as one of modern activities, it is a mutual review of written works between learners. It is important to notice that this activity includes not only checking the grammar, but accuracy, spelling and other skills as well.

Peer editing as an activity improves several elements in studying process:

1. It creates cooperative and interactive atmosphere between students

2. It creates convenient conditions of knowledge acquisition during the lesson which helps students to learn quickly and effectively

3. It develops students’ educational and personal skills including critical approach, objectiveness, cooperation and mutual respect.

Peer editing puts a learner in a new role that includes different requirements from him. By editing partner’s work, student takes some of teacher’s responsibilities including reviewing grammar, lexis, accuracy and other skills. Psychologically, peer editing helps learners to realize what teachers’ work is like. It can help to avoid misunderstanding and problems in «student-teacher» communication.

Checking somebody’s work helps learners to clarify their lacks in particular sides of knowledge, since editing requires pure confidence in their own skills. Teachers can easily reveal student’s knowledge by checking a piece of work that has been

edited by a student. Peer editing helps learners not only to develop basic skills of a teacher, but also clarifies their self-evaluation of knowledge.

Another side of peer editing effectiveness is that it helps to prepare the final variant of work. For instance, a piece of writing edited by the learners’ partner is reviewed once again, some corrections and improvements can be made and then, the final work is given to the teacher. This two-stage process reduces an amount of mistakes in the work and therefore, encourages students to work more.

Peer editing is not just review of writing, it’s also giving critical opinion, advice and useful instructions by a groupmate. Most of the time peer editing is highly anticipated by English learners and it is often exploited in the classroom during writing activities [2, p.p. 209-220]. However, there are some students who are still resistant to peer editing, thinking that only the teacher can make notes and comments on their writing. The reason for such kind of attitude is probably because of their misunderstanding of the nature of peer editing. Its aim is not to separate students of higher and lower level and not to indicate someone whose skills are not developed as good as of some other groupmates, but vice versa — peer editing involves different level students into effective cooperation. To achieve this goal, peer editing should be organized and conducted in a correct way.

• Before any activity, friendly and interactive atmosphere should be established in the classroom. It refers to any learning process. Without such atmosphere, teaching and learning process will fail in every beginning.

• A teacher may explain the aim of peer editing for students and give them correct instructions how to review works.

• Students need to know how feedbacks and comments, no matter if they are written or made orally, should look like.

• Students should follow stylistic rules, etiquette and simply be polite while making any feedbacks or pieces of advice to their groupmates [3, p.p. 6-15].

Of course we should keep in mind that peer editing should be anyway supervised by the teacher. The teacher is the major guide

during any activity. That is why, effectiveness and correct conduction of peer editing activity is teacher’s responsibility. No matter how independently the process of editing goes, teachers should be observers, making their final feedback at the end. The last word of work’s evaluation is left to the teacher. The aim of peer editing is not simplifying teacher’s work, but development of learners’ skills.

References

1. Beachy C.J. Enhancing Writing through cooperative peer editing. Cambridge, 1992. P.p. 4-12.

2. Davidson N., Worsham T. Enhancing thinking through cooperative learning. NY: Teachers College Press. 2005. P.p. 209-220.

3. Kagan S. Cooperative learning, San Juan Capistrano. California: SAGE Publications, Inc., 1998. P.p. 6-15.

Совершение ошибок в процессе обучения — совершенно нормальная, логичная и просто неотъемлемая часть этого процесса, независимо от изучаемого предмета и возраста ученика. Работа по исправлению ошибок в процессе обучения видится, в свою очередь, неотъемлемой и естественной функцией преподавателя, с какой бы точки зрения мы ни рассматривали его деятельность: с точки зрения самого преподавателя, с точки зрения обучающихся, с точки зрения общества.

 
настроение: деловитое

ключевые слова: английский язык, исправление ошибок, эффективность, образовательный результат, обратная связь, форма и содержание, баланс

город: Санкт-Петербург

e-mail: markharva@yandex.ru

 
Как и все учителя, в своей работе я достаточно много внимания и времени уделяю исправлению ошибок учащихся, их анализу, продумыванию и организации дополнительной тренировки в целях их дальнейшего предотвращения. На этом пути у меня возникают вопросы и сомнения. Иногда работа по исправлению ошибок приводит к положительным результатам, но порой применяемые методы исправления ошибок, успешные в одном случае, не работают в другом: формально учащиеся реагируют на исправление ошибок учителем в процессе урока, но это исправление не интегрируется в речевую практику, ошибки повторяются и даже укрепляются.

Я ощутила личную профессиональную необходимость изучить теорию вопроса исправления ошибок в процессе преподавания иностранного языка с тем, чтобы в повседневной работе добиваться большей эффективности и положительных результатов в освоении учащимися английского языка. Особенно важной правильная организация работы по исправлению ошибок видится в связи с необходимостью каждому преподавателю иностранного языка находить разумный баланс в своей работе. Основная цель изучения иностранного языка — коммуникативная, формирование умения породить высказывание на иностранном языке и понять иноязычную речь. Одновременно на плечах преподавателей лежит ответственность по подготовке учащихся к успешному прохождению итоговой аттестации, что предполагает владение учащимися правильной формой иностранного языка. Задача найти этот баланс весьма трудна: учащиеся должны не бояться говорить, должны уметь пользоваться иностранным языком по его прямому назначению — для общения и извлечения информации, и в то же время должны владеть достаточной степенью правильности языка.

Проблема исправления ошибок в процессе преподавания иностранного языка имеет весьма противоречивую историю. Вопрос исправлять ошибки или нет, а если исправлять, то как, во многом зависит от методологии, которой придерживается преподаватель в своей работе, а также от вида речевой деятельности, в ходе обучения которой происходит (или отсутствует) исправление ошибок. В 1950–1960 годы в рамках аудиолингвального метода преподавания подчеркивалась необходимость исправления ошибок любой ценой. К 1970–1980 годам позиция ученых и преподавателей изменилась. Многие из них, в частности, сторонники так называемого естественного подхода во главе со Стивеном Крашеном, стали говорить о том, что исправление ошибок в процессе обучения иностранному языку не только не нужно, но и вредно. Они считали, что это негативно сказывается на мотивации учащихся. Ошибки в устной речи преподаватели не исправляли, а исправление ошибок в письменных работах отдавалось на откуп самим учащимся. Появившийся в 1980-е годы и распространенный по сей день коммуникативный метод не рассматривает исправление ошибок как предмет первой важности, ставя во главу угла беглость речи и приемлемость использования языковых форм. Современные же методисты склоняются к тому, что в рамках развивающегося коммуникативного метода исправление ошибок и опора не только на содержание, но и на форму может способствовать эффективному преподаванию иностранного языка, особенно при обучении подростков, юношества и взрослых.

Изучающий иностранный язык зачастую испытывает психологическое давление, боязнь ошибок, волнение и страх перед иностранной речью. Постоянное и настойчивое исправление ошибок в такой ситуации делает процесс освоения языка безрезультатным. Однако без разумной коррекции ошибок учащихся со стороны преподавателя в условиях реальной жизни, когда все стороны образовательного процесса требуют доказательства эффективности процесса обучения, подтверждения соответствия этого процесса государственным стандартам, положительного результата не достичь.

Еще одним аргументом в защиту исправления ошибок является тот факт, что без негативной обратной связи (именно такой термин используется для обозначения исправления ошибок) в речи учащихся развиваются так называемые «окаменелости». Это означает, что развитие языка у учащегося останавливается задолго до поставленной цели. Например, языковая форма в неверном виде на постоянной основе утверждается в речи и продолжает повторяться в искаженной форме независимо от того, насколько велико воздействие изучаемого языка. Порой эти «окаменелости» всю жизнь могут сопровождать людей, даже когда они живут в стране изучаемого языка и окружены людьми, для которых этот язык является родным. На практике это может чинить достаточно серьезные препятствия в карьерном росте да и трудности в повседневной жизни.

Следующий довод в пользу исправления ошибок носит весьма практический характер. Очень часто в современном обществе иностранный язык, особенно английский, используется для общения между людьми, не являющимися носителями этого языка. Если у каждого участника такого общения сформировались собственные «окаменелости», их общение может потерпеть фиаско, потому что они не смогут расшифровать истинный смысл высказывания. Особенно вероятны такие проблемы в случае общения носителей языков разных языковых семей.

И хотя преподаватели и учащиеся несколько по-разному относятся к исправлению ошибок, по данным исследований, в среднем менее 4 % учащихся не хотели бы, чтобы их ошибки исправляли в процессе урока. Подавляющее большинство изучающих иностранные языки отмечает, что постоянное исправление ошибок не помогает им, ведет к скованности при порождении высказывания. Они предпочли бы, чтобы преподаватель отмечал меньшее количество ошибок, но более наглядно, чтобы каждому исправлению уделялось бы больше времени и использовалось бы разнообразие стратегий и ресурсов. Преподаватели же, напротив, считают непродуктивным уделять исправлению ошибок большое количество времени, а также делать это подчеркнуто и наглядно из-за боязни спровоцировать у учащихся боязнь перед иностранной речью. Тем не менее обе стороны считают исправление ошибок важной частью процесса изучения иностранного языка.

Итак, ошибки в процессе преподавания иностранного языка исправлять нужно. Это ответ на первый вопрос из списка, сформулированного Дж. Хендриксоном в 1978 году, и вопросы из этого списка до сих пор актуальны и открыты.

— Когда должны исправляться ошибки?

При принятии решения о времени исправления ошибки необходимо учитывать цели и задачи урока: отсрочка возможна лишь тогда, когда внимание сосредоточено не на форме, а на содержании (самый очевидный пример — спонтанная речь учащегося в ходе дискуссии, высказывании собственного мнения, особенно когда эта речь носит эмоционально окрашенный характер). Ученые-исследователи, основываясь на статистических данных, сходятся во мнении, что чем более отложено во времени исправление ошибки, тем менее оно эффективно. Таким образом, работа над ошибками через несколько дней после проведения контрольной работы во многом теряет свои функции. Самостоятельная работа учащихся над ошибками рассматривается многими учеными как наименее эффективная форма.

В своей книге «Как обучать грамматике» методист-практик С. Торнбери рассматривает 12 различных способов реакции преподавателя на грамматическую ошибку, разбирая уместность и эффективность каждого из них. Он подчеркивает, что наиболее эффективно исправление ошибок в условиях реального действия, когда учащийся использует язык в его коммуникативной функции. Автор сравнивает такое исправление ошибок с действием инструктора по вождению — конечно, инструктор может составить список ошибок, допущенных водителем-учеником в ходе вождения, и прокомментировать их по окончании урока. Но по-настоящему ученик обратит внимание на указанные ошибки, когда это наиболее важно — во время вождения. В обоих случаях — и при обучении вождению, и при обучении языку — искусство преподавателя заключается в том, чтобы включиться в процесс, но не помешать ему.

— Какие ошибки должны исправляться?

Ошибки классифицируются по аспектам языка (фонетические, лексические, грамматические). Выделяются явные и скрытые ошибки. В зависимости от влияния на понимание речи выделяются сильные и слабые ошибки. Различаются межъязыковые (языковая интерференция) и внутриязыковые (например, сверхобобщение — перенос изученного правила на исключения) ошибки. Помимо ошибок (в английском “errors”), существует еще и термин «оплошность, незначительная ошибка» (“mistake”), отклонение от нормы с возможностью быстрого самоисправления говорящего/пишущего (оговорка, описка).

Если работа учащегося носит явно выраженный коммуникативный характер и основное внимание сосредоточено на содержании, исправляться должны только те ошибки, которые препятствуют пониманию. Следующими к исправлению принимаются повторяющиеся ошибки. Когда же внимание сосредоточено на форме (особенно при работе над грамматическим материалом, а также при работе по формированию навыков письменной речи), внимание должно уделяться как сильным, так и слабым ошибкам, в том числе и оплошностям.

— Как должны исправляться ошибки?

Исправление ошибок — это выражение негативной обратной связи. Во многих источниках приводятся шесть типов исправления ошибок, обозначенных авторитетными учеными-лингвистами:

1. Explicit correction. Явное исправление, когда преподаватель непосредственно указывает на совершённую ошибку, объясняет, в чем она состоит, и дает верный вариант ответа.
2. Recast. Перифраз — произнесение/написание исходного неверного по форме речевого образца уже без ошибки, но без каких-либо пояснений со стороны учителя.
3. Clarification Request. Просьба о пояснении, когда учитель дает знать, что не понял высказывание учащегося. Это обычная ситуация и в реальной коммуникации.
4. Metalinguistic Cues. Использование терминологии (например, грамматической — учитель использует термин: «время», «артикль» и т.д.) — реакция, связанная с высказыванием учащегося, но не предлагающая правильной формы.
5. Elicitation. Стимулирование речемыслительной деятельности, побуждение к исправлению и последующее «извлечение» правильной формы. Например, учитель повторяет высказывание ученика до места, где была сделана ошибка. Учитель может сопровождать свои слова finger coding: отсчитывать пальцами каждое произнесенное слово, отмечая «палец-ошибку».
6. Repetition. Повторение неправильного по форме высказывания учащегося преподавателем с обязательным вербальным акцентом в той части, где сделана ошибка. Если не выделить ошибку голосом, учащийся может подумать, что сомнению подвергается правдоподобность высказывания.

Пути с третьего по шестой рассматриваются как наиболее эффективные, так как «когда исправление делается самим учащимся, он опирается на собственные ресурсы и тем самым активным образом сражается с ошибками, что ведет к глубинному по характеру пересмотру существующей у данного учащегося гипотезы в отношении конкретного аспекта изучаемого языка» (Листер и Ранта, 1997).

Как же преподаватели поступают на самом деле? Какими методами исправления ошибок они пользуются чаще всего? Исследования показали, что в среднем преподаватели иностранного языка исправляют 62 % от общего числа сделанных учащимися ошибок. В ходе одного из проводимых исследований наблюдения велись за четырьмя преподавателями на протяжении более 18 часов занятий. В процессе уроков учителя исправили 686 ошибок, 375 — 55 % от общего числа — которых были исправлены в форме перифраза. Только 66 из 375 исправлений — менее 20 % — сработали и были использованы как руководство к действию, т.е. привели к исправлению учащимися собственного высказывания. 80 % исправлений в форме перифраза не имело никакого эффекта. Ученые пришли к выводу, что в силу психологических особенностей, учащиеся (особенно младшего и подросткового возраста) воспринимают перифраз как альтернативу собственному высказыванию или даже как простой повтор. Таким образом, наиболее часто используемый тип исправления ошибок чаще всего не работает! Время, потраченное на исправление ошибки, оказывается потраченным зря.

Система классификации типов исправления ошибок может быть представлена в обобщенном виде тремя категориями:

• прямые исправления — самый простой и наименее эффективный способ;
• перифраз — оставим этот способ для работы на краткосрочных курсах, особенно при обучении взрослых, для исправления фонетических ошибок, а также носителям языка, выступающим в качестве преподавателей;
• переговоры по поводу формы (negotiation of form) — сюда попадают виды исправления ошибок с третьего по шестое место из первой классификации. Эти способы положительно воспринимаются учащимися и эффективно работают при исправлении лексических и грамматических ошибок.

— Кто должен их исправлять?

Конечно, инициатором процесса является преподаватель, но при ответе на предыдущий вопрос становится очевидным, что ученик в этом процессе занимает весьма активную позицию, основная роль отводится самокоррекции и коррекции со стороны других учащихся.

Игнорирование ошибок наносит непоправимый вред прогрессу в изучении языка. Сфера исправления ошибок — очень трудный раздел преподавания, так как преподаватель вынужден в условиях крайне ограниченного времени принять серию моментальных решений, ответив для себя на вопросы:

• Есть ли здесь ошибка как таковая?
• Какая ошибка?
• Что стало ее причиной?
• Важна ли она?
• Что я как преподаватель должен сделать по поводу этой ошибки?

Теоретические исследования и опыт практиков дают преподавателям информацию к размышлению, но, увы, очень мало рецептов. Оказываясь один на один с ошибкой, преподаватель должен быстро найти эффективный, методически оправданный и психологически верный способ борьбы с ней. Краткая памятка по исправлению ошибок, которую я составила для себя, выглядит так:

1. Ошибки — неотъемлемая часть процесса познания, показатель индивидуального развития учащегося.
2. Ошибки имеют разный вес. Контекст учебной ситуации очень важен. Все ошибки «лечатся» по-разному.
3. Отсутствие негативной обратной связи влечет за собой отрицательное воздействие на развитие языковых знаний в долгосрочной перспективе. Если негативная обратная связь превалирует, страдает мотивация — движущая сила изучения языка. Необходим баланс.
4. Учащиеся и преподаватели по-разному представляют себе идеальное исправление ошибок. Необходимо достижение взаимного понимания и сотрудничества.
5. Прямое исправление ошибок и перифраз — не самые эффективные формы обратной связи.
6. Ошибки учащихся — материал для осмысления и дальнейшей работы.
7. Вмешательство преподавателя при исправлении ошибок должно быть разумным, тактичным и достаточным.

[links&resources]

1. James M. Hendrickson. Error Correction in Foreign Language Teaching: Recent Theory, Research, and Practice*The Modern Language Journal 1. James M. Hendrickson. Error Correction in Foreign Language Teaching: Recent Theory, Research, and Practice.*The Modern Language Journal. Volume 62, Issue 8, pages 387–398, December 1978.
2. Krashen S. Principles and practice in second language acquisition (S.Krashen’s website).
3. Thornbury S. How to Teach Grammar. Longman Pearson Education, 1999.
4. Lyster, R. and Ranta, L. Corrective feedback and learner uptake. 1997. http://people.mcgill.ca/files/roy.lyster/Lyster_Ranta1997_SSLA.pdf
5. Russel V. Corrective Feedback, over a decade of research since Lyster and Ranta (1997): Where do we stand today? Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 2009, Vol.6, No.1, pp. 21–31.
6. Giller A. To Err is Human, To Correct is… Undecided, www.longwood.edu
7. Меркулова С.Г. Современные подходы к исправлению ошибок в устной речи при изучения иностранного языка.// Английский язык. Приложение к газете «Первое сентября». — № 45. — 2002.

Introduction

Whenever anyone learns to do something new, it is extremely rare for them to be able to perform it perfectly on their first attempt. The same must also be true with learning a new language. Children acquiring their mother tongue within the critical period will often also make errors, however, they will often naturally be corrected over time.

The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), was proposed by Lenneberg in 1967, which suggested the learning of a child’s first language happens naturally before the age of puberty. Although other writers disagree to an extent over where CPH is true, most people accept learning a new language after the Critical Period is over is more difficult (Newport et al 2001).

When Krashen based his “Natural Approach” (Krashen, 1983) on the CPH, he believed that errors were signs that natural development was occurring. Krashen further defined acquisition of a language, as developing language proficiency by communication, as opposed to learning which required formal teaching and error correction. Moerk, (1994) showed that even when acquiring your mother tongue correction is needed to improve. This essay will be looking into what, how and when errors should be corrected.

What should be corrected in language learning?

There is a clear need to give correction however, the impact of too much feedback can also be detrimental to student motivation (Hattie & Yates, 2013). This makes it more important to prioritise which errors to correct. When considering which errors to correct Hendrickson, (1978) suggested correction based on the student’s ability, starting with errors that affect commutation, then common errors, finally errors that will irritate. Following on from this, it is clear that you will need to correct beginners differently from advanced students. Furthermore, it is worth considering abstaining from correcting specific errors until you have introduced that area of knowledge to the students, for example, if you were correcting sentences for students trying to use the past perfect continuous when the students are still coming to grips with the simple past.

Teachers should correct mistakes based on what the students have previously learned, rather than errors they use from trying content they are as yet unready for. This is in line with Chaudron’s work (1988), which summarised students should be corrected when their error is the focus of the lesson. It is also important to correct mistakes in things previously studied, as peers hearing the mistake will question their understanding of what they’d previously learnt (Allwright,1981).

When to correct mistakes in language learning?

I will concentrate on when, to correct errors and mistakes occurring in oral speech, as written mistakes are not as time-sensitive and will be visible for much longer. The time at which you correct may depend on several factors such as what you are teaching. For example, if you happen to be teaching new vocabulary words and a student mispronounced one. You will likely correct the mistake right away, whereas if you were teaching reading fluency and a student mispronounced a word, you would probably wait until the end of the reading to correct it.

Other factors which will determine when teachers choose to correct mistakes are student confidence and class flow. Teachers should be careful not to interrupt the flow of class with excessive feedback. For example, you could share feedback with a single student after the next task has started, this will also help to reduce embarrassment. I should also mention the possibility that if errors are left uncorrected, the students will develop a habit of repeating the same mistakes. This is known as the error becoming fossilised, which will be more difficult to correct, at a later date.  

How should teachers correct mistakes?

There are many ways to correct mistakes that occur in oral speech. A teacher will often use many different ways in a single lesson. I will list a few that are commonly used.  

• Echoing, or repeating the mistake, can be used with a questioning tone. This will give the student a chance for self-correction. Echoing is often useful if you believe the mistake was a slip. Common slips like she/he or third person can be brought to students’ attention by this method.

• Gestures indicating an incorrect tense, for example, behind could mean you were expecting the past tense. Even raising your eyebrows could be a clue that something isn’t correct. 

• Another example I remember reading about a teacher who stuck a big “S” on a wall and pointing to it every time students forgot to use the third person. Later the «S» was removed, but they would still point to the wall. Teachers can agree on gestures with the class previously.

• Repeating the sentence up until the mistake will give the student a chance to understand where in their sentence the mistake had occurred. This would again give them the opportunity to self-correct.

• Using fingers again while repeating the sentence to show where a word was missing. Can be used when students miss words like “a” or “the”.

• Recasting, I am not a fan of this one, as it gives students the correct answer and doesn’t give them a lot of chances to reflect on the mistake. I can see this being used for words that have been mispronounced as they should hear a good model rather than continuing to guess as to what the correct pronunciation is. 

• Contrast the correct and the incorrect forms, for example, “I’m loving it” or “I love it” which do you think is correct? Let’s discuss. (sorry McDonalds).

• Peer-correction, if the student is unable to self-correct, maybe a peer can help correct it. This can be done by asking another student to help. This may also be achieved by allowing peers to give suggestions and let the student chose which is the correct answer.  

Correcting written errors

Similarly, to correcting oral mistakes too much correction can be disheartening for students. Many teachers will use a correcting rubric this can be shared with students so that they try to correct their mistakes. Examples of such a rubric may be using “sp.” to indicate a spelling mistake. It is advantageous for students to have a chance to try to self-correct their mistakes before the teacher looks again to share the correct answers.

Tasks where students share and critique with their classmates’ work is also useful to help students become aware of their mistakes. It’s also useful to help them become more aware of different writing styles and gain ideas for their works. When giving feedback on written work it is important to understand feedback received is not the same as feedback understood. The most effective feedback is that which includes what the next step is (Hattie, 2013).  

Conclusion

A lot of research has gone into what, how and when to correct, however the final decision usually lies with the teacher. Although most researchers agree that students need feedback and correction, the methods are left down to the teacher. Teachers should consider carefully when giving feedback as not to upset the flow of the class. Teachers must also be careful not to try to correct every error as too much correction can demotivate students. Teachers have many different kinds of ways to give feedback and corrections and teachers should not be afraid to use other students to suggest corrections.

by Vojtech Fiser

References citied.

Allwright, R.L., 1981. What do we want teaching materials for?. ELT journal, 36(1), pp.5-18.

Arora, S., 2015. Defossilising the errors of ESL learners through feedback. Innovation in English Language Teacher Education, 192.

Chaudron, C. (1988). Second language classrooms: Research on teaching and learning. Cambridge University Press.

Clark, E. V. ,2009. First language acquisition. Cambridge University Press.

Hattie, J., & Yates, G. C. ,2013. Visible learning and the science of how we learn. Routledge.

Hendrickson, J. M., 1978. Error correction in foreign language teaching: Recent theory, research, and practice. The modern language journal, 62(8), 387-398.

Hendrickson, J. M., 1980. The treatment of error in written work. The Modern Language Journal, 64(2), 216-221.

Hoxha, E. K., 2015. Errors in the foreign language learning process. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research and Development, 2(1), 97-100.

Ingram, D., & David, I. ,1989. First language acquisition: Method, description and explanation. Cambridge university press.

Krashen, S. D., & Krashen, S. D.,1983. Natural approach (pp. 20-20). New York: Pergamon.

Lee, I., 2003. L2 writing teachers’ perspectives, practices and problems regarding error feedback. Assessing Writing, 8(3), pp.216-237.

Lenneberg, E.H., 1967. The biological foundations of language. Hospital Practice, 2(12), pp.59-67.

Moerk, E. L., 1994. Corrections in first language acquisition: Theoretical controversies and factual evidence. International Journal of Psycholinguistics.

Newport, E.L., Bavelier, D. and Neville, H.J., 2001. Critical thinking about critical periods: Perspectives on a critical period for language acquisition. Language, brain and cognitive development: Essays in honor of Jacques Mehler, pp.481-502.

Roberts, M., 1995. Awareness and the efficacy of error correction. Attention and awareness in foreign language learning, pp.163-182.

Touchie, H. Y., 1986. Second language learning errors: Their types, causes, and treatment. JALT journal, 8(1), 75-80.

Walz, J. C. ,1982. Error Correction Techniques for the Foreign Language Classroom. Language in Education: Theory and Practice, No. 50. Center for Applied Linguistics, PO Box 4866, Hampden Station, Baltimore, MD 21211.

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. 

By

August 20, 2020

If you’ve taught or tutored English (or any language), you’ve probably asked yourself on more than one occasion when, how, and even if, you should correct your students’ mistakes. While error correction in teaching English mainly depends on whether your lesson objective is fluency or accuracy (more on this below), in any case, there are certain key things to know when it comes to effectively – and sensitively – correcting your students’ mistakes in class.

If you’re new to teaching, you’ll want to get initial training and qualification with a TEFL certificate. You can explore our online TEFL courses to get started!

What is the difference between an error and a mistake?

You might be surprised to learn there’s a difference! Yet in teaching English, a distinction is made.

Mistakes

A mistake is an accident or a lapse, something that your EFL/ESL students actually know and that they can most likely self-correct if given the chance. This can be a typo, 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.

What kind of errors do EFL/ESL students make in class?

Students make many mistakes during the long endeavor 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.

You’ll learn more about other types of errors students make, such as global and local, in the Micro-credential course: Error Correction in the EFL Classroom.

When should I correct my students?

The timing of correcting students’ errors in teaching English is crucial to your lesson being a success or a fail. Error correction in EFL/ESL 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.

At that time, you can give individual feedback or discuss the most important errors with the whole class if your students are okay with that. You could also prepare a quiz for the next lesson, touching on the major errors that you noted down while monitoring your students.

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. You don’t need to focus too much on mistakes students make that aren’t related to the current lesson, since this can again disrupt their efforts to use the newly learned grammar.

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.

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. For more detailed tips and tricks, check out the Bridge Micro-credential course: Error Correction in the EFL Classroom!

Dos

• Be sensitive to your students’ needs and preferences. Ask your students at the beginning of your course which kind of error correction they prefer. (Many students like being corrected immediately because they can still remember their mistake and learn from it, while others only want to focus on fluency.
• 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.
• 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 EFL/ESL classroom! This is especially important if you’re teaching young learners, who easily pick up on moods and emotions.

The importance of error correction in the EFL/ESL classroom

We learn by making mistakes. As children, we learn how to walk by falling over hundreds of times. As adults, we learn a new language by making uncountable mistakes in the use of words, grammar, sentence structure, pronunciation, and register. The most important thing for you as an English teacher is to correct your students’ errors effectively and sensitively. Only then can you help them grow and develop their newly acquired language skills at their own pace and in a comfortable and safe environment.

Learn more about correcting students’ errors effectively

If you’re a new teacher and want to level-up your teaching skills as well as learn more about error correction techniques in the classroom, start with the comprehensive Bridge Master Certificate TEFL/TESOL course.

If you’re an experienced teacher, sign up for the Bridge Micro-credential course: Error Correction in the ESL Classroom to develop additional skills, and you’ll have the option to earn a digital badge to show off your credentials on your TEFL resume and social networks!

Micro-credentials are just one of the many resources that can enhance your TEFL/TESOL resume.