بوابة الثانوية العامة المصرية - Correction in Language Teaching مستر / السيد الرفاعي

Correction in Language Teaching

· Correction techniques
§ Teacher doesn't correct at all.
§ Teacher indicates there is an error/mistake but does not provide any further information about what is wrong.
§ Teacher indicates something was wrong and elicits an acceptable version from the learner who made the error/mistake. (self-correction)
§ Teacher indicates something is wrong and elicits from another learner a model of the acceptable version. (peer correction)
§ Teacher indicates something is wrong and elicits from another learner an explanation of ''why the mistake/error was made'' and ''how to avoid it''
§ Teacher himself/herself corrects the error/mistake through facial expressions, gestures etc.
§ Use finger correction (hold on to the ''error'' finger, e.g. third word)
§ Repeat sentence up to error
§ Echo sentence with changed intonation or stress (e.g. ''You go to a disco yesterday?'')

· When to correct
The options include: immediately; after a few minutes; at the end of the activity; later in the lesson; never. If the objective is accuracy, then immediate correction is likely to be useful. If fluency is the objective, then lengthy, immediate correction that diverts from the flow of speaking is less appropriate. We either need to correct briefly and unobtrusively as we go or save any correction after the activity has finished or later.

Error →Students produce incorrect language because they don't know the correct form. (or it is due to a lack of appropriate knowledge or some false knowledge)

Mistake →Students produce incorrect language although they know the correct form. (or it arises from a lack of processing ability or an inability to perform)

Slip → When a student makes a language mistake that they are able to correct themselves without help from the teacher. (or they are mistakes which students can correct themselves, once the mistake has been pointed out to them)

§ Harmer, J 2007 How to Teach English Pearson Education Ltd.
§ Scrivener, J 2005 Learning Teaching Macmillan