APPLIED LINGUISTICS for BA Students in English
FEEDBACK AND ERROR CORRECTION
Responding to oral errors
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 This technique is to be applied tactfully, so that the student who originally made the mistake will not feel humiliated.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 a 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 That is why it is important that after correction the teacher has to ask the student who originally made the error or mistake to give the correct response.
