Error Correction

One of the main dilemmas for teachers giving conversation groups is error correction. It’s
always tricky to know when and if to correct students and how to go about it.

The danger of over-correcting is that students will lose motivation and you may even
destroy the flow of the class or the activity by butting in and correcting every single mistake.
The other extreme is to let the conversation flow and not to correct any mistakes. There are
times when this is appropriate but most students do want to have some of their mistakes
corrected as it gives them a basis for improvement.

 So, the question is; When and how should you correct
your students?
Every teacher will have different views on this and different ways of correcting their
students and it’s a case of finding out what both you and your students feel comfortable
with. I would like to offer several ideas of how to go about it.

Ask the students how they want to be corrected

 This sounds obvious but it can be easily overlooked. Talk to your students about
error correction and to find out from them how they like to be corrected. Often
students have clear ideas about how they would like you to correct them. With large
groups you may have to go with the majority, but if you have a small group you can
cater for individual needs.
 One way to give students a choice on how much they want to be corrected in a
particular class or activity is for them to make a traffic light to put on their desk. A
strip of card with three circles (one red, one orange and one green) folded into a
triangle with a bit of sellotape does the trick. Students point the circle towards you to
indicate whether or not they want correction:

o Red = don’t correct me at all (they may have had a rough day or be tired!)
o Orange = correct things which are really important or things I should know.
o Green = correct as much as you can, please.

Are you working on accuracy or fluency?

 Before you begin an activity, bear in mind whether you are concentrating on
accuracy or fluency. For a class discussion for example, fluency would be
 appropriate. The important thing is that students are expressing themselves and
thinking on their feet. However if students have had time to prepare a role-play and
are then going to perform it you may want to encourage accuracy. Be clear of the
aims of the task and make sure students are aware of what you expect from them.

 Don’t present an activity as a fluency task and then pick them up on every single
mistake.

Self correction / Peer correction

 The first port of call when correcting can be the students themselves. Students can
often correct themselves when they realise they’ve made a mistake. Sometimes the
mistake is simply a ‘slip’ and they are aware of the correct version. Give students a
chance, and time, to correct themselves. Often by just raising your eyebrows or
repeating the mistake students will know what you mean and back track to correct
the error themselves. Some teachers create all sorts of hand signals to indicate the
type of error. Pointing behind you is a classic to indicate to students that they should
have used a past tense. If these work for you and your students, go ahead and create
your own correction indicators.
 Students can also correct one another. Peer correction often helps to create a
positive class atmosphere as students realise you are not the only source of error
correction and they can learn a lot from one another.

Correction slots

 One way to focus on students’ mistakes is to take ‘time out’ of an activity and look
at mistakes as a group. When students are doing a speaking task in pairs or groups I
often monitor the students and listen in on what they’re saying. Students will get
used to you hovering around them although if it’s not your usual monitoring style
they may wonder what you’re up to at first! I make a note of the mistakes that I
hear; whether they are pronunciation, grammatical or lexical. I collect a selection
of their errors and then stop the activity. I write a selection of the mistakes on the
board and ask students to correct them. If students are working in pairs and you
have a left over student, why not assign them the role of assistant teacher? They can
have a notebook and pen and make notes of mistakes they hear. If they do their job
well they could even run the correction slot with their mistakes instead of you.
Usually most of the mistakes can by corrected by the students themselves.

On the spot correction

 Correcting mistakes the second they are made has the advantage that you don’t
have to bring the activity to a stop as is the case with a correction slot. Students
often appreciate instant correction. Think about what type of activity it is before
deciding whether or not it’s appropriate to correct on the spot. You don’t want to
 destroy the flow of the task by butting in. Students can also be responsible for on the
spot correction if they are encouraged to pick up on each other’s mistakes.

New mistakes or the same old ones?

 I always remind students that if they are always making new mistakes it’s okay. New
mistakes are usually a sign that they are exploring new uses of language or
experimenting with new vocabulary but if they are always repeating the same
mistakes it’s not such a good sign! By noting their mistakes students have a record
of their progress and can avoid repeating the same mistakes time and time again.
It’s a good idea to have a set space in their notebooks to write down their errors and
the correct version. One way of doing it is to divide a page into three columns:

 Sometimes it’s a good idea to have little tests based on the classic mistakes students
make in class. It encourages students to look over their notes and try to learn from
them.

Conclusion

Whichever way you go about correcting your students, try to keep the
experience positive for the learner. Being corrected constantly can be a
really de-motivating, as every language learner knows. As you are listening
out for your students’ errors, make sure you also listen out for really good
uses of language and highlight these to the group too. In the case of
language learning I really do believe the classic saying, ‘you

 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.

 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.

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.