Error and Correction

Humans largely learn by trial and error, experimenting to see what works and what doesn’t. It is the same
with language learning.
Student errors are evidence that progress is being make. Errors often show us that a student is
experimenting with language. Analysing what errors have been made clarifies exactly what level the
student has reached and helps set the syllabus for future language work.
In dealing with errors, teacher have looked for correction techniques that help students to make their own
corrections. This may raise their own awareness about the language they are using.
Sometimes language can be grammatically correct but completely inappropriate in the context in which it is
used.
Five teacher decisions have to be made when working with oral errors in class:
1. What kind of error has been made? Is it connected to grammar, pronunciation, etc.?
2. Should we deal with it? Is it useful to correct it?
3. When should we deal with it?
4. Who will correct it?
5. Which technique should we use to indicate that an error has occurred or to enable correction?
As regards question 2, an important consideration here is the aim of the activity. Is it to improve learner’s
accurate use of English? If this is the case, then correction may be helpful. However, if the activity is aiming
to encourage fluency, interruptions and corrections might get in the way of the work.
When to correct
Will it help or hinder meaning? Am I correcting something they don’t know? (If so, there doesn’t seem much
point). How will the student take the correction? What is my intention in correcting?
Should we correct immediately; after a few minutes, at the end of the activity; later in the lesson; next
lesson; later in the course; never? The distinction between accuracy and fluency aims is again important
here. If the objective is accuracy, then immediate correction is likely to be useful; if the aim is fluency, we
either need to correct briefly and unobtrusively as we go or save any corrections for after the activity has
finished or later.
One strategy used by many teachers during fluency is to listen in discreetly and collect a list of overheard
errors.
Decision 4 concerns who corrects. The options are: Self-correction; Student – student; Teacher – student;
Small group; All class; Coursebook / reference books.
Decision 5. Some ideas for indicating/correcting errors:
1. Tell students there is an error. We can also add what kind of error it is.
2. Use facial expressions or/and gestures showing surprise, interest, etc. You can frown, raise your
eyebrows, etc.
3. User finger correction (hold on to the ‘error’ finger, e.g. the third word) or draw spaces on the bb (to
show the number of words in a sentence; then indicate which word is the problem).
4. Repeat the sentence up to error.
5. Echo the sentence with changed intonation or stress.
6. Ask questions. (e.g. “Was this last week? – Or one-word questions, e.g. Tense? Past?)
7. Draw a timeline.
8. Write the problem sentence on the bb for discussion.
9. Exploit the humour in the sentence. Be careful, though: this technique is often more amusing for the
teacher than for the students.
10. Use the phonemic chart.
11. “The chain”. This is a type of student-student correction. If student A makes a mistake, then B helps
him. If he also makes a mistake, the C helps B and the B helps A.
 12. Say the corrected sentence yourself. Sometimes this may be the quickest, most appropriate, most
useful way of helping.

Testing
You could test:
 the students’ progress over the course so far (a progress test);
 their general level of English, without reference to any course (a proficiency test).
Most internal school test tend to be progress tests; most external ones (e.g. international exams) are
usually proficiency tests.
You can test anything that has been studied; this usually means the four language systems and the four
language skills.
Traditional “pen-and-paper” test are usually made up of two types of questions:
 discrete item tasks (i.e. testing specific individual language points);
 integrative tasks (i.e. a number of items or skills tested in the same question).
These can be marked in two ways:
 objectively (i.e. there is a clear correct answer, and every marker would give the same marks to the
same question);
 subjectively (i.e. the marking depends largely on the personal decision of the marker; different
markers might give different marks for the same question).
Discrete items are likely to be marked objectively; integrative markers are likely to be marked subjectively.
Some questions may involve elements of both. Language systems are easier to test objectively; language
skills tend to be tested subjectively.
Three criteria of a good test
1. A good test will seem fair and appropriate to the students (and to anyone who needs to know the
results).
2. It will not be too troublesome to mark.
3. It will provide clear results that serve the purpose for which it was set.
Criteria rather than marks?
What’s the aim of a progress test? Often it’s to give encouragement that something is being done well or to
point out areas where learners are not achieving as much as they could. With this kind of aim giving ‘marks’
may not be the most effective way to assess, especially when skills (as opposed to language systems) are
being tested.
An interesting alternative option is to base the tests around assessing if learners are ‘successful’ when
compared against some ‘can do’ criteria statements (i.e. statements listing things ‘I can do’). These
statements can reflect the syllabus of the course.
A criteria-based assessment scheme could perhaps measure each ‘can do’ on a scale of four:
1. The candidate meets and surpasses the criteria.
2. The candidate meets all main aspects of the criteria.
3. The candidate meets the criteria in some respects, but with significant problems.
4. The candidate is unable to meet the criteria in any respect.
Some common discrete-item testing techniques
- Gap fill
- Sentence transformation
- Sentence construction and reconstruction
- Finding and correcting mistakes
 - Situational (you present a situation and a sentence for students to complete using the correct
language for that situation, e.g.: You want to borrow some money from a colleague. What questions
would you ask? I wonder ________ borrow _________?)
- Two-option answers (such as T/F)
- Matching (pictures, words, sentence pieces, labels, etc.

Assessing Speaking
Prepare criteria
Think of about ten kinds of speaking that students have worked on over the course and turn them into a
criteria list.
Too many students!
A frequent problem for teachers is when there are so many learners in one class that it seems to make it
unrealistic to assess speaking. However, with a list of criteria, it becomes considerably more
straightforward to assess even a large group. The next three or four times you set a speaking task (i.e.
where learners work in pairs or groups), walk around class with a list of names, listening in to various
groups and noting successes, keeping track of individual ‘can dos’. Extend your assessment over a few
lessons, keep listening and adjusting your evaluation over a variety of tasks.
Speaking tasks
You can use almost anything you do in normal class work.
Self-assessment
It can be a real awareness-raising activity. Distribute a list of criteria and ask students to first write a short
line comparing themselves against each criterion – a reflective view rather than just yes or no. Encourage
‘guilt-free’ honest reflection. After the writing stage, learners can meet up in small groups and talk through
their thoughts, explaining why they wrote what they did.

Using the learner’s first language

There are many helpful ways of using L1 in class:
 When learners read an article or short story, sometimes ask them to summarise it orally in L1. This
can reveal interesting insights bout what learners have understood or misunderstood.
 When a new grammatical item is learned, encourage learners to think how they would say the same
things in their own language. Don’t just ask for a translation, but encourage learners to consider if
there is a direct one-to-one correlation with their L1 and to notice differences between the two
languages.
 When working with pronunciation, explicitly focus on contrasts between how a sound is formed in L1
and English.
 When watching a DVD film, the availability of switchable subtitles in L1 and English can be very
helpful.
 Compare three different L1 translations of the same English sentence and decide which is the best
and why.
 Compare layout and style between L1 and English conventions, e.g. for letters, formal notices, etc.
 If you feel that the best, most effective way to explain something is in L1, go for it! (But keep it for
times it’s needed, rather than as a matter of course.)
 A little teacher translation can bring things to light that would otherwise remain hidden. But exercise
caution – use a little L1 when you have a clear purpose and then return to English.