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Please paste information in this wiki about the topic until Monday, November the 21st, thank you.
Raquel
This is information I found on internet, November 16th.
SPEAKING CORRECTION
Suggestions of speaking correction techniques to use when teaching English.I want to know. What's the best way to correct students when they make a mistake, especially when they are speaking?
Posted: 30 May 2005 at 9:00pm
Introduction
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Everyone makes mistakes, even speakers using their own language when they are hurried, ‘lost for words’, or forced into inappropriate language by a difficult or unusual situation. It is hardly surprising, then, that language learners make mistakes, given the difficulty of the task of comprehending, processing the content of the message and knowledge of the target language, and coming out with a response that is both grammatically correct and appropriate to the situation.
It is generally agreed that correction is part of the teaching/learning process, but that over-correction and poor correction techniques can be demotivating for the learner and may lead to a reluctance to try out new language or even to speak at all. Teachers need to make informed decisions about what, when and how to correct in order to help learners improve their speaking skills without damaging their confidence. The following are important points to consider:
Mistakes and errors
Errors are produced as a result of the lack or misinterpretation of knowledge, which, in turn, may be a product of the learner’s stage of language development, or inadequate teaching or learning. Errors cannot be corrected and need to be dealt with by teaching or reteaching. Errors are often noticed in less-guided practice activities when the same error is made by a number of learners, leading the teacher to realize that something has gone wrong in earlier stages of the teaching/learning process. Mistakes, on the other hand, are products of the learner’s efforts to produce language despite prior knowledge. They may be due a variety of factors including over-enthusiasm, over-generalization of rules, interference from the mother tongue, and once the cause has been established, can be dealt with by a number of correction techniques.
Accuracy and fluency
Mistakes are usually corrected immediately when the aim of the stage of the lesson is to promote accuracy, particularly during the drilling of the target language and during guided practice. Attention to mistakes in these stages improves the chances of correct use of language later, while mistakes made during less-guided practice often indicate that the teacher has not dealt effectively with mistakes at the accuracy stage. When the aim is fluency, however, less intrusive, ‘gentle’ or delayed correction techniques are required in order not to damage either the flow of the activity or the confidence of the learners.
Interlanguage
In the process of acquiring the language, a learner may acquire forms of language that are in between their first language and their target language. This is their ‘interlanguage’, and is a product of incorrect application of rules, incomplete knowledge, and comparison between two (or more) languages. Interlanguage may seem completely logical and correct in the mind of the learner and may also be a part of a natural learning process where rules get more refined as more input is received. This leads to the belief that mistakes are a healthy part of language learning and should not be dealt with too severely. However, if learners are not corrected, mistakes in their interlanguage may ‘fossilise’ and become permanent.
Good learners
Oddly, ‘good’ learners often make more mistakes than others. This tends to be because they have more confidence, produce more language and are highly motivated to speak. Good learners are also ‘hypothesis testers’ in that that they can formulate and try out rules of their own, and ‘risk takers’ in that they are prepared to ‘have a go’. These learners need to be encouraged, and are often capable of self-correction.
Teachers need to consider the above, get to know their learners and their learning backgrounds, develop an attitude to correction and be equipped with a variety of correction techniques which are appropriate to a variety of learner types and learning situations. Bearing this in mind, we suggest some activities that teachers might like to try in their classrooms.
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Part 1: While-speaking correction
Correction symbols
Some teachers use prompts for correction while speaking. Some well-known examples are:
Make a ‘T’ with fingers to illustrate missing ‘the’.
Show a small word missing by holding thumb and forefinger close together.
Cross hands over to show wrong word order.
To these I would like to add some more prompts, using sounds, gestures and puns:
Pull ear to show irregular past tense: ‘ear’ sounds the same as the first syllable in ‘irregular’.
‘With’ and ‘by’ e.g. with car - teacher waves to signal ‘bye’, which sounds the same as ‘by’.
Confusion of auxiliary e.g. I aren’t like swimming - sing ‘Do be do be do’ (Strangers in the night - Frank Sinatra).
Missing ‘ing’ e.g. I am wait for a bus - T says ‘(t)ing’ like a bell ringing.
Unnecessary ‘to’ e.g. I must to go - draw -2 (minus t(w)o) on the board in the air.
Where would is used wrongly, e.g. in conditionals, tap on ‘wood’ to show that ‘would’ is wrong.
Wrong present tense e.g. simple vs. continuous: Use a circling hand motion to prompt continuous, use open arms to show wide, e.g. general time.
Buzz like a bee to show missing verb ‘be’ e.g. I going.
Student says For going instead of to go: Hold up four fingers and then cover two of them to show ‘for’ (4) should be ‘to’ (2).
Make a scissors motion with fingers to cut out unnecessary words .e.g. …which I like it.
I don’t want no tea - make two minus symbols with your fingers, then cross them to make a plus to show two negatives make a positive in English.
On/in - make an ‘o’ with your finger/thumb and change it to ‘I’ straight finger, or vice versa (if appropriate to your culture!).
Adjective used instead of adverb. E.g. He walked slow - make an L shape with your right index finger and thumb. This looks like both ‘l’ and ‘y’, so signifies ‘ly’. Close the thumb and finger to show that the ‘ly’ is unnecessary, i.e. adv. > adj, and open to change adj. > adv.
You could invent own symbols. While students need to learn them, which may take time, it brings humour into the sometimes serious task of correction and avoids the need for words. Once the students have learnt the symbols, there is also potential for peer correction.
Correction table
Draw a table on the board. While students are talking, point to the type of mistake, giving students a chance to self-correct. You could ask for volunteers to speak, e.g. a pair. Afterwards students could try it in groups, with two speaking and one listening and pointing. A table could look like this:
Preposition wrong / missing
Wrong tense, e.g. simple / continuous
Article a / the missing / wrong
Phonology,
sounds e.g. silent letters
Word stress
Wrong infinitive form, e.g. Let him to go.
Simple present, 3rd person -s, e.g. He go.
They goes.
Word order, e.g. I speak well English.
Wrong word
Wrong form, e.g. adverb / adjective
Wrong pronoun, he/she, we/us
Irregular past tense, e.g. swimmed
Correction drill
Choose a confident student who will not mind having mistakes corrected. Explain that you are going to correct him as he speaks, and that the purpose behind this is not to humiliate, but to help. The student should speak, e.g. tell a story about himself. You repeat each sentence. If there are mistakes, you repeat the sentence correctly and the rest of the class does the same after you. The rationale is 1) students get to hear how they should sound, 2) the rest of the class is involved, and they listen to the original and the teacher’s improvement. 3) By using intonation to show interest, approval, disapproval, and surprise in a light-hearted way, which can be echoed by the class, you focus on meaning as well as form. Example:
S1: I stood up late.
T: Oh you got up late! (disapproving)
SS: You got up late! (disapproving)
S1: I got up late, then I eat big breakfast.
T: You had a big breakfast. (amused)
SS: You had a big breakfast. (amused) etc.
S1: Yes, I had a big breakfast then I went at the park.
Teacher’s shadow
Put students in groups for conversation. Choose one student to shadow you while you walk around, monitoring. When you hear a mistake, correct it and replace the student who made it with your shadow, so that you have new shadow. Continue until you have had a number of different shadows. Shadows can help you listen for mistakes, too. The aims are: to give the students a teacher’s view of the class, to make students aware of mistakes. Also it should show it's not only weak students who make mistakes. As we noted in the introduction, ‘good’ students who speak more and try to use more complex language make mistakes, so stress that being a shadow is not a punishment.
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Part 2: Post-speaking correction
Speaking graph
Ask for a pair of volunteers to speak on a certain subject. While they speak, draw a line on a graph which represents the students’ level of speaking quality. When mistakes are made the line goes down. When the students are speaking well, it goes up. Make a note of the positive things as well as the mistakes. Here’s an example of a feedback commentary.
After a slow start, this conversation picks up. The teacher notes the correct use of ‘used to’. However a tense mistake is made. This is followed by a minor mistake, a missing preposition. Then there is a fluent stage with both students speaking well. Unfortunately one student uses a wrong word. However, contractions are well used. A mispronunciation towards the end is the only slight problem in the last stages.
To give students encouragement, note that most of the time they are above the line of clear communication, only a couple of mistakes cause confusion for the listener, while other mistakes do not interfere with comprehension. Of course, not every mistake needs to be noted; in fact as the purpose is to encourage, over-correction would be counter-productive. Note: if writing on the board distracts students, do it on paper and transfer to the board when they have finished.
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Part 3: Students look at their own mistakes
Two speaking, one secretary
Getting students to focus on each other’s mistakes can be useful, if done tactfully and the reasons explained (it is sometimes easier to see other people’s mistakes other than your own.) While two students speak, a third makes notes of anything that he or she thinks may be wrong. Afterwards the three students can discuss it.
Manual chat
Instead of speaking to each other, students quickly pass pieces of paper back and forward with a written conversation in groups, a bit like chatting on the Internet. This has the advantage of being similar to spoken conversation, but leaving a written record that can be analyzed by students themselves.
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Part 4: Written correction exercises
Written correction exercises can raise awareness of errors made in speaking, and can be chosen to reflect students’ common mistakes.
Booing and cheering correction
Write six or so sentences on the board, some of which should contain mistakes. Students locate the mistakes as follows: As you point to each sentence, get the class to cheer or boo, according to whether they think it is correct or not. Put a cross next to the sentences the class thinks are incorrect. Point at these word by word until the mistake is located, again by booing and cheering.
Rule and mistake sentences
To help students remember not to make mistakes, write sentences which both give and break the rules. Try getting students to correct these examples:
When you writing a present continuous sentence, always include the verb ‘to be’ (When you are writing…)
For making sentences expressing purpose, use an infinitive.
You know how to use an auxiliary verb in present tense questions?
If I you will tell me how to use ‘if’ with present, I will not make a mistake.
I forgetted that some past tense verbs are irregular.
Teachers should not to let students use unnecessary words.
When use an adverb clause, don’t forget to use a participle.
Use a preposition when you listen the radio, don’t when you watch to the TV.
He’s never used a past time clause with present perfect until last week.
Use ‘a’ the first time you introduce a word, but use ‘the’ for a same word later.
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Conclusion: Turning a blind eye
In the introduction we noted that while correction was necessary to prevent fossilization, over-correction could be demotivating. This means that teachers need to be selective in correction. Some students may notice that some mistakes are not being corrected. Here’s an activity you can use to explain this.
Record students’ mistakes and write them on the board, which you divide into two. Write on the right side if they are serious, i.e. interfere with communication, and on the left side if they are not. Ask students to help you decide. When finished, tell students that ‘to turn a blind eye’ means to ignore something wrong, and this is usually done where to do something would be worse than to do nothing. The original expression is reputed to come from Admiral Nelson, who ignored a signal to retreat, by ‘looking’ at it with his blind eye, and then won the battle. Like battles, speaking a foreign language is a risky business, and in the interests of encouragement, mistakes are sometimes overlooked. Ask your students to cover their left eyes and concentrate on the mistakes on the right.
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Simon Mumford teaches at the University of Economics, Izmir Turkey. He also is an oral examiner, trainer and workshop organizer for the British Council in Izmir. He is especially interested in the application of creative thinking to classroom activity design.
Steve Darn has lived and taught in Turkey for over 20 years, and is currently a teacher and trainer in the School of Foreign Languages at Izmir University of Economics. He also trains teachers and trainers for the British Council in Turkey and is a tutor and assessor for Cambridge ESOL Teaching Awards. He is a regular contributor to a number of ELT
Hello dear friends: Raquel, Carlos and Armando I add something interesting about the topic
SPEAKING CORRECTION
15 ways to correct spoken errors
1. Collect the errors for later You can then correct them later in the same class (with a game like a grammar auction or just eliciting corrections from the class) or in a future class (for example writing error dictation pairwork worksheets or using the same techniques as can be used in the same class). [...] Written by Alex Case for TEFL.net 1. Collect the errors for later
You can then correct them later in the same class (with a game like a grammar auction or just eliciting corrections from the class) or in a future class (for example writing error dictation pairwork worksheets or using the same techniques as can be used in the same class). Make sure you give positive reinforcement as well, e.g. “Someone said this sentence, and that is really good.”
Useful language:
“Here are some things that people said in the last activity”
“I heard several people say this one”
“Can anyone correct this sentence? It has one missing word/ one word missing/ You need to add one word”
“The words are in the wrong order/ You need to change the words around/ change the word order/ mix the words up”
“This is a typical mistake for students from…”
“Don’t worry, even native speakers make this mistake sometimes/ every nationality makes this mistake”
“This mistake is something we studied last week” 2. Facial expression
For example, raise an eyebrow, tilt your head to one side or give a slight frown. Most people will do this naturally, but there is a slight chance a teacher’s expression will be too critical or too subtle for your students to pick up on, and you can (amusingly) practice facial expressions in a teaching workshop by participants communicating certain typical classroom messages (“move over there to work with this person”, “work in pairs” etc.) using just their heads and faces, including feedback on spoken errors in that list. 3. Body language
The problems with using body language to show errors could also be that it is taken as very serious criticism or that it is too vague. Possibilities include using your hands (rolling a hand from side to side to mean “so-so attempt”; making a circle by moving your index finger to mean “one more time”; or a cross with fingers, open palms or even forearms to show a very clear “no” or “wrong”- probably only suitable for a team game etc where the responsibility is shared), head (tilted to one side to mean “I’m not sure that sounds correct”), or shoulders (hunched to reinforce “I don’t understand what you are saying”). Again, practising this in a teaching workshop can be useful, as can eliciting other body language teachers could have used after an observation. 4. Point at the correct language
If you have something on the correct form easily accessible on the whiteboard, in the textbook or on a poster, just pointing at it can be a subtle but clear way of prompting students to use the correct language. What you point at could be the name of the tense or word form they are supposed to be using, a verb forms table or the actual correct verb form, a grammatical explanation, or another grammatical hint such as “future”, “prediction” or “polite”.
Useful language:
“Have a look at your books/ the board”
“The correct version is somewhere in this chart/ poster/ table”
“You copied this down earlier. Have a look in your notebooks” 5. Repeat what they said
This can mean repeating the whole sentence, one section of it including the wrong part, the sentence up to the wrong part, the sentence with the wrong part missed out (with maybe a humming noise to show the gap that should be filled) or just the wrong part. You can illustrate that you are showing them an error and give some hint as to which bit is wrong by using a questioning tone (for everything you say or just for the wrong part). This method is overused by some teachers and can sound patronising if used too often or with the wrong tone of voice, so try to mix up the different versions of it described here and to alternate with methods described in the other tips.
Useful language:
“The man GOED to the shops?”
“The man GOED?”
“GOED?” 6. Just say the right version
The students can then repeat the correct version or tell you what the difference between the two sentences was and why their version was wrong. Because the students don’t do much of the work in this way of being corrected, it might not be as good a way of remembering the correction as methods where you give more subtle clues. Its advantages are that it is quick and suits cultures, classes and students that think of elicitation as shirking by the teacher. It can also be more face-saving than asking them for self-correction, as trying to correct themselves risks making even more mistakes. The “right version” could mean the whole sentence or just the correction of the part that was wrong. In the latter case, you can then ask them to put it into the sentence in the right place and repeat the whole thing.
Useful language:
“I understand what you are saying, but you need to say…”
“We studied this last week. “Hardly” has a different meaning to “hard”, so you need to say…?”
“The past of say is pronounced /sed/. So your sentence should be…?” 7. Tell them how many mistakes
This method is only really suitable for controlled speaking practice, but can be a very simple way of giving feedback in that situation. Examples include “Most of the comparatives were right, but you made two mistakes” and “Three words are in the wrong position in the sentence/ are mixed up”. Make sure you only use this method when students can remember what you are referring to without too much prompting.
Other useful language:
“Very good, but you made just one mistake with the passive”
(For a tongue twister) “Good attempt/ Getting better, but in two places you said /sh/ where it should have been /s/. Can you guess which words?” 8. Use grammatical terminology to identify the mistake
For example, “(You used) the wrong tense”, “Not the Present Perfect”, “You need an adverb, not an adjective” or “Can change that into the passive/ indirect speech?” This method is perhaps overused, and you need to be sure that the grammatical terminology isn’t just going to confuse them more.
Other useful language:
“Because that is the present simple, you need to add the auxiliary (verb) ‘do’”
“Say the same sentence, but with the comparative form” 9. Give the rule
For example, “‘Since’ usually takes the Present Perfect” or “One syllable adjectives make the comparative with –er, not more + adjective” This works best if they already know the rule, and you at least need to make sure that they will quickly understand what you are saying, for example by only using grammatical terminology you have used with them several times before. 10. Give a number of points
This is probably best saved for part of a game, especially one where students work together, but you can give each response a number of points out of 10. The same or other teams can then make another attempt at saying the same thing to see if they can get more points. If you don’t want students to focus on accuracy too much, tell them that the points will also give them credit for good pronunciation, fluency, politeness, persuasiveness and/ or originality of ideas.
Useful language:
“Very good fluency and very interesting, but a few basic mistakes, so I’ll give your team a score of (IELTS) 5.5. Practice your script in your team again for 5 minutes and we’ll try it one more time”
“You got all the articles right this time, so I’ll give you 9 out of 10” 11. Just tell them they are wrong (but nicely)
Positive ways of being negative include “nearly there”, “getting closer”, “just one mistake”, “much better”, “good idea, but…”,”I understand what you mean but…”, “you have made a mistake that almost everyone does/ that’s a very common mistake”, “we haven’t studied this yet, but…” and “much better pronunciation, but…” With lower level and new classes, you might have to balance the need to be nice with the need to be clear and not confuse them with feedback language that they don’t understand, perhaps by sticking to one or two phrases to give feedback for the first couple of months. It can also be useful to give them translations of this and other classroom language you will use, for example on a worksheet or a poster. 12. Tell them what part they should change
For example, “You need to change the introduction to your presentation” or “Try replacing the third word with something else” 13. Ask partners to spot errors
This is a fairly well-known way of giving feedback in speaking tasks, but it can be a minefield if the person giving feedback has no confidence in their ability to do so or in how well the feedback (i.e. criticism) will be taken, and even more so if the person receiving the feedback will in fact react badly. This method is easier to do and easier to take when they have been told specifically which language to use while speaking and so to look out for when listening, usually meaning controlled speaking practice tasks. The feedback can be made even simpler to give and collect and more neutral with some careful planning, e.g. asking them count how many times their partner uses the target form as well as or instead of looking for when it used incorrectly. 14. Try again!
Sometimes, students don’t need much help at all but just a chance to do it again. This is likely to be true if you have trained them well in spotting their own errors, if there was some other kind of mental load such as a puzzle to solve that was distracting them from the language, or if they have had a chance to hear someone else doing the same speaking task in the class or on a recording.
Useful language:
“One more time (but think about the grammar more this time/ but concentrating on making less mistakes instead of speaking quickly)”
“Give it another go”
“Do you want one more chance before you get the final score” 15. Remind them when you studied that point
For example, “Nearly right, but you’ve forgotten the grammar that we studied last week” or “You’ve made the same mistake as everyone made in the last test”.
And finally, a tip that isn’t included in the count of fifteen points as it is the opposite of what the article is supposed to be about: 16. Don’t
Sometimes students won’t benefit from any feedback on spoken errors. I could write another whole article on how to choose when to correct and when not to, and I may well do so…
Useful language:
“We’re concentrating on fluency today, so we’ll leave the error correction until next week”
“There is practice of this in your homework, so we’ll just try and use the language for communication today, and concentrate more on getting the grammar right next week Written by Alex Case for TEFL.net | October 2008 Alex Case is TEFL.net Reviews Editor and author of the popular blog TEFLtastic.
LINK http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/speak/correcting-spoken-errors/
Sent by Alejandra
November the 17th, 2011.
Alejandra,the information you pasted is pretty interesting. Thanks so much.
Raquel.
Error Correction in Speaking 1 Class for Adult Learners in Petra Christian University
By
Herwindy Maria Tedjaatmadja
Henny Putri Saking Wijaya
Petra Christian University, Surabaya
Introduction
Speaking has always been one of the most difficult skills for learners to develop because it requires them to produce the language which most of the time, spontaneously or without enough time to construct the appropriate and correct utterances. English language learning is a process where all aspects of English (listening, reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary, and grammar) are interconnected. Consequently, in order for learners to develop their speaking proficiency, all aspects of languages must be involved. Due to a lack of English exposure in non-English speaking countries, most learners do not have sufficient opportunity to improve their oral proficiency in English. Language teachers usually hold the most authority to correct learners’ errors, especially regarding the fact that learners value and expect teachers’ feedback on their work. However, to most language teachers, correcting students’ speaking errors is one of the most frustrating tasks because it has more potential for subjectivity due to individual variables such as background knowledge, pronunciation, and spontaneity as influential parts (Cohen, 1990 and Hughes, 2002). Therefore, error correction should be done appropriately; lest, it will discourage them from practicing the language. This paper will be divided into four major parts: introduction, the nature of error correction, error correction in Speaking 1, and conclusion.
The Nature of Error Correction
Before we go further into the error correction in Speaking 1, it is necessary to describe the definition of errors. Many language teachers believe that errors are inevitable yet indicators of the progress in language learning. Davis and Pearse (2000: 103) state that “errors are integral part of language learning and not evidence of failure to learn”. Many studies have indicated that errors are signals that learning occurs; in other words, errors indicate learners’ stage which reflects parts of lesson that have been understood and to be improved (Smith, 1994 and Hedge, 2000). Error correction is defined as ‘a response either to the content of what a student has produced or to the form of the utterance’ (Richards and Lockharts, 1996: 188). However, considering the individual variables such as contexts, pronunciation, vocabulary, and spontaneity as influential parts in speaking, error correction in speaking is highly challenging and possibly perplexing. There are many factors to be carefully considered such as learners’ level, which errors to be corrected, when, and how to correct. To reiterate, it is emphasized that errors are inevitable in language learning; thus, appropriate error correction method is needed. A class observation in Speaking 1 in Petra Christian University will stimulate the discussion on how to correct errors in the communicative speaking class, mainly from participants’ profile and participants’ attitude toward error correction.
Error Correction in Speaking 1
Speaking 1 is an integrated English course designed for non-English department teachers and staff in Petra Christian University. It aims to achieve more complete English proficiency by focusing on the speaking skills to help students communicate effectively on daily topics. There are fifteen units in this book in which group discussion, role-play, problem-solving activities, and public speaking are some of the activities during the course. This course runs five days a week for 2 hours per meeting. Participants’ English proficiency ranges from pre-intermediate to intermediate level. All participants are encouraged to take an active role in sharing ideas with their classmates, thus creating a more dynamic learning environment. In general, the age of the participants range from early 20 to late 50s. It is important to know learners’ profile for a better teaching-learning process; consequently, questionnaires have been distributed to identify participants’ expectations, problems, and suggestions for the material, ways of teaching as well as ways of correction. Then, lecturers respond to their preferences based on the result of the questionnaires in order to create a more conducive learning atmosphere. During the sessions, most participants write down the feedback or suggestion the teachers have given, which point out that they have high motivation to join this course. In addition, they sometimes bring some questions on how certain expressions are used, what phrase to use and so on to the classroom that make the learning process become more engaging.
In language learning, how far students can deal with error correction also depends on their level of proficiency and previous knowledge. Therefore, it is a must for teachers to know learners’ level and previous knowledge to avoid discouragement on the learners’ side. Learning is a journey taken by learners; thus, teachers should build up a sense of togetherness in Speaking 1 class. It is highlighted that everyone is learning, and making errors is one of the signals that learning takes place; hence, each participant is strongly encouraged not to laugh at others’ mistakes. Both the teachers and participants need to be aware of the importance of constructive corrections. Although teacher’s assessment of errors may vary, the types of errors to be corrected depend on the purpose of the course itself; in other words, what is being required or being taught to the participants. When these conditions are not met, the teachers turn to their individual judgment of learners’ performance in class. In addition, the goal of language learning and teaching highlights the pedagogical decision to correct only what is being taught and to give teachers direction about what information is lacking (Wajnryb, 1992: 51). In our cases, the focuses are on content (30%), fluency (30%), vocabulary (20%), grammar (10%), and pronunciation (10%).
Level of proficiency takes an important role in error correction because if the explanation of errors is beyond their level of proficiency, it will bring limited or no advantages (Allwright, 1975 and Krashen, 1982, cited in Cohen, 1990: 60). Participants in Speaking 1 usually assumed that ‘to’ was always followed by infinitives. So, when they produced the utterances, for example “I am used to swimming”, they were likely to say “I am used to swim”. In Speaking 1, this error needs to be highlighted without further explanation about it since it will confuse the learners.
On the other hand, a ‘small’ error should be also highlighted if it can bring negative impacts when it keeps occurring. As a part of speaking, non-transferability of conversational patterns across culture also exists; thus, errors can happen. In making apology in English, for instance, several ways of expressing apology based on degree of formality and sincerity can carry implicit meanings which are open for many interpretations. The word ‘very’ in English apologizing ‘I’m very sorry’, for example, creates a formal atmosphere but not sincere whereas the word ‘really’ as in ‘I’m really sorry’ indicates sincerity (Cohen, 1990). Moreover, most participants in Speaking 1 had the background knowledge that ‘I am sorry’ or ‘Sorry’ was the only expression of apologizing. Therefore, whenever they needed to apologize, they would say ‘I’m sorry’ although it was addressed to their supervisors in a formal meeting. When looking at the useful expressions in the book (e.g. I apologize for , etc), they had questions about the appropriate use of apologizing expressions in certain situations because the different expressions of apology never exist in Indonesian repertoire. Hence, in this case, the teacher needs to explain how to use the expressions appropriately so that the learners will not make the same error.
It is also to be taken into consideration that correcting too many errors can discourage the participants but ignoring their errors will lead to fossilization. Therefore, attitude toward error correction is another factor to determine the success of error correction. Based on the result of the questionnaires, the majority of the participants preferred to be corrected right away after they made the mistakes. If the learners have a positive attitude toward the learning process, they will not be discouraged by a lot of corrections given by the teacher. For instance, one participant in Speaking 1 had a poor pronunciation skill and often made pronunciation mistakes. Nevertheless, she liked to be corrected. During an informal interview, she stated that her reason of joining the Speaking class was because she wanted to improve her speaking skill, mainly her pronunciation. As a consequence, she could enjoy the learning process and was not discouraged by the error correction.
Conclusion
Error correction in speaking classes needs a careful treatment because every learner will give different reactions to the feedback given by teachers. The main purpose of most of speaking class is to make the learners use the language they have learnt appropriately and accurately in the right contexts. That is why it is suggested that teachers correct selectively and constructively. The followings are some suggestions drawn from the class observation in Speaking 1:
Launch an initial investigation into the participants’ learning profile.
A quick survey, for example an introductory session before beginning the class or questionnaires, will help both teachers and participants to negotiate and determine the most suitable method to deal with the participants’ errors. This will also give the participants the opportunity to see for themselves if they could cope with the selected correction method. The most important thing here is to make the learners comfortable with the error correction method used in class.
Encourage participants to keep an error correction notebook.
This notebook contains error entries, corrections made, and explanation or background knowledge underlying the correction. This will help both teachers and participants to monitor their errors and review the corrections made. The relevance of the error correction notebook will depend on how the teacher will use this notebook. The teacher, for example, could check the notebook once in a while or give additional speaking exercises in relation to the errors made. This activity will give learners the opportunity to reflect on their errors and hopefully avoid or lessen them.
Give positive feedback and acknowledge learners’ progress in L2 speaking.
These acts can touch boost participants’ confidence. A teacher’s response of ‘That’s wrong!’ will make them focus on the errors and not the revision. On the other hand, constructive comments like ‘Do you mean ?’ and sincere compliments such as ‘That is interesting’ or ‘What a clear explanation’ will add participants’ willingness to improve. In short, if teachers can highlight participants’ progress, they can neutralize the negative emotions created by the corrections on fluency, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary.
References
Cohen, A. (1990). Language Learning. Boston: Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Davies, P. and E. Pearse (2000). Success in English Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hughes, R. (2002). Teaching and Researching Speaking. London: Pearson Education.
Richards, J. C. & C. Lockhart (1996). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Smith, M.S. (1994). Second Language Learning: Theoretical Foundations. Harlow: Longman.
Wajnryb, R. (1992). Classroom Observation Task. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10 Tips to Speak Correct English i. Observe the mouth movements of those who speak English well and try to imitate them. When you are watching television, observe the mouth movements of the speakers. Repeat what they are saying, while imitating the intonation and rhythm of their speech. ii. Until you learn the correct intonation and rhythm of English, slow your speech down. If you speak too quickly, and with the wrong intonation and rhythm, native speakers will have a hard time understanding you. Don't worry about your listener getting impatient with your slow speech -- it is more important that everything you say be understood. iii. Listen to the 'music' of English. Do not use the 'music' of your native language when you speak English. Each language has its own way of 'singing'. iv. Use the dictionary. Try and familiarise yourself with the phonetic symbols of your dictionary. Look up the correct pronunciation of words that are hard for you to say. v. Make a list of frequently used words that you find difficult to pronounce and ask someone who speaks the language well to pronounce them for you. Record these words, listen to them and practice saying them. Listen and read at the same time. vi. Buy books on tape. Record yourself reading some sections of the book. Compare the sound of your English with that of the person reading the book on the tape. vii. Pronounce the ending of each word. Pay special attention to 'S' and 'ED' endings. This will help you strengthen the mouth muscles that you use when you speak English. viii. Read aloud in English for 15-20 minutes every day. Research has shown it takes about three months of daily practice to develop strong mouth muscles for speaking a new language. ix. Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes. Many people hate to hear the sound of their voice and avoid listening to themselves speak. However, this is a very important exercise because doing it will help you become conscious of the mistakes you are making. x. Be patient. You can change the way you speak but it won't happen overnight. People often expect instant results and give up too soon. You can change the way you sound if you are willing to put some effort into it. Visit for more Tips, Tricks & eBooks : - www.ElectronicBooks.tk www.ElectronicBooks.110mb.com It's my information getting in the net, check and review it Regards Armando
Wednesday, november the 23 Hello Armando, thanks for your contribution. Please dear classmates, go on looking for more information.
Check the information pasted here to decide which topics to deal in order to distritbute them to prepare our presentation.
If you have any suggestions, please mention them here.
Let's meet in the messenger, please, please.
Raquel.
HI GUYS THIS WHAT I'VE FOUND. CHECK
ERROR CORRECTION AND FEEDBACK IN LANGUAGE LEARNING Students deserve to be corrected so that they improve their accuracy and understanding. Learners report that they want to be corrected. Yet, research indicates that overcorrection of either oral or written work by the teacher discourages students from speaking or writing. Clearly, correcting learners to the point that they remain silent is counterproductive. The same is true of returning written work to learners with so many corrections that they believe they will never overcome their mistakes. Research based on classroom observation shows that teachers use a number of strategies for the correction of errors. This varies from direct corrections—such as pointing to what is wrong—to more indirect means—such as repeating the phrase correctly or asking students to explain the rule. Studies indicate that teachers prefer to say again and correctly what the student has said. Nevertheless, while this appears to be a very polite form of correction, learners tend to ignore it. They focus on meaning and treat the teacher’s utterance as mere participation in the conversation. To have more impact, teachers should ask for clarification (“I’m sorry. I didn’t understand that. What do you mean?”). Students are then more likely to incorporate corrections into their speech. Errors in comprehension are obviously much more difficult to recognize and research indicates that teachers often cannot “see” these errors at all or dismiss them as a lack of initiative on the part of readers. Error correction should always be positive, yet targeted. Learners should be able to understand what their mistakes are and how to correct them in the context of what they do correctly. Learners can easily accept: “No. Remember there is an -s on the third person singular verbs. It’s ‘he runs’. If you could fix that, your story line would be much clearer”. It is much more unpleasant to hear “When are you ever going to remember that there is an -s ending on the third-person singular?” and easy to shut down. Teachers also need to think about errors as more than mere grammatical mistakes. Errors in content, based either on factual mistakes or on misunderstandings of the culture to be learned, also need to be corrected. In oral speech, correction of this sort would involve helping learners state their particular view, permitting the teacher to add more appropriate knowledge. “Meal time” is an interesting example. Some cultures have a main meal at midday while others might eat in the evening. Learners are quick to judge the “good” and the “bad” of different approaches. Teachers need to be able to modify learners’ judgments with additional information that explains the practice. In like manner, errors in content often appear in learners’ written compositions. Teachers should respond to student writing regarding accuracy of message and interpretation with comments such as: “This was an interesting point about meal time habits. I think if you expand this section where you make a comparison, your point will be clearer. Right now there are too many generalizations. You need some specific examples.” This kind of feedback reminds learners that their teachers are readers and as readers they deserve clear prose that should be as interesting and as accurate as possible. All learners should be encouraged to keep a journal of important points they should try to remember so as to correct their speech and writing. A classroom chart to which each learner contributes a correction in the new language is also a helpful way of sending the message that learners should focus on accuracy; that everyone makes mistakes; and that everyone should concentrate on fixing repeated mistakes. Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt SPEAKING Students should be given practice speaking in language comprehensible to others. Research finding Additional language instruction formerly consisted of students’ memorizing dialogues and practising grammar drills. Current research supports a model known as ‘communicative competence’. Although students must learn the grammar and vocabulary, these alone do not lead to fluency. Since natural language is unpredictable and speakers arrive at meaning through active communication, students must be taught how to manage real conversation—how to start and end conversations, how to respond appropriately, and how to express their beliefs, opinions and feelings. Students need to learn what is culturally appropriate and how language varies depending on the situations; they may need to learn about people involved, their moods, and other social and cultural factors. A fluent speaker needs to know how to link utterances together to create clear and effective discourse. Students must also learn how to manage conversations when there are communication breakdowns. These modern views caused changes in the teaching of speaking. Students should engage in ‘unscripted’ or spontaneous language since that is the nature of usual speaking practices. The teacher’s role is to provide language patterns that are needed, guide students in how to form natural language, and then to create opportunities for practice. Teachers must provide judicious coaching and encouragement so that students will actively practice speaking. In the classroom When teaching speaking, the following instructional strategies are recommended: • Present to students the linguistic and vocabulary patterns and make sure they understand how they are formed, when they are used, and their cultural implications. Teach students speech acts (to agree/disagree, apologize,make excuses, etc.), forms to manage conversations (openings, interruptions, closings, etc.), and strategies for roundabout speaking when they don’t know a specific word. • Provide controlled practice so students can feel comfortable with the patterns. • Have students use the patterns in natural language situations that are relevant to their speaking needs. Pretending they are asking for directions or requesting a hotel room are examples. • Allow the students to make errors, but also provide feedback on what is successful and unsuccessful. Teaching additional languages By Elliot L. Judd, Lihua Tan and Herbert J. Walberg References: Brown & Yule, 1983; Bygate, 1987; McCarthy & Carter, 1994. SPEAKING PRACTICE Provide students with opportunities for practicing specific speaking skills. Students improve their formal speech when teachers provide insights on how to organize their ideas for presentation. Students can give better speeches when they can organize their presentation in a variety of different ways, including sequentially, chronologically and thematically. They need practice in organizing their speech around problems and solutions, causes and results, and similarities and differences. After deciding about the best means of organization, they can practice speeches with another student or with the whole class. Teachers can also help students adapt their speeches and informal talks so as to correspond to the intended audience, the information to be communicated, and the circumstances of the occasion at which they will speak. The teachers can illustrate how well-known speakers have adapted their presentations in ways to suit these different circumstances. Teachers can enable learners to present ideas to individual peers, peer groups and entire classes of students. They can learn to speak on a subject of their own choosing or on teacher assigned topics. Preparing for debates and participating in them help students to see both sides of various issues. Students also benefit from interviewing others and from participation in dramatic presentations. Students may enjoy speaking about their personal experiences. When given this opportunity, they can benefit from instruction in the elements of good story-telling. Both teachers and students can provide suggestions for students’ speeches. In constructively criticizing others, learners can learn to apply criteria for good speech and employ tactful social skills. In doing so, they can increase and improve their own speaking skills. Students can also learn speaking and social skills by suggesting possible improvements to one another’s practice speeches. Positive experiences in speaking can lead to greater skills and confidence in speaking in front of larger groups. Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt SPEAKING SKILLS Teach students to adapt their speech to specific situations. Learners need to know how speakers differ from one another andhow particular circumstances call for different forms of speech. They can learn how speaking styles affect listeners. Thus, the rate at which they speak, the volume and the precision of pronunciation may differ substantially from one situation to another. It is useful for students to know that speech should differ in formality, such as when speaking to a judge, a teacher, a parent or a playmate. They may also benefit from learning about the differences among various dialects. The subjects in the curriculum and examples from the media may provide occasions for different forms of speech. Oral presentations can be derived from poems, stories, newspaper and magazine articles, as well as scientific reports. Dramatic acting and watching skits and plays may provide the richest opportunity to see how character and circumstance affect speech. Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt REDUCING SPEAKING FEARS Provide opportunities to practise speaking before increasingly larger groups. Children, adolescents and adults sometimes fear the challenge of sustained, formal speaking before large groups. Teachers can help reduce unrealistic fears by pointing out how common they are among people and what to do about them. They can also help to reduce such fears by maintaining a friendly atmosphere in the class and providing opportunities for students to practice alone or with one other student and then before increasingly larger groups. Thus, students can practice speaking in front of their peers who face the same situation. Students can practise presenting information, answering questions and holding group discussions. Frequent classroom presentations and discussions enable teachers to diagnose and remedy problems. Students can benefit from learning by setting themselves presentation goals and assessing their own progress. Observing proficient speakers can help students to set such goals. Practising oral presentation in these ways can lessen students’ anxieties while, at the same time, helping them to learn the subject matter of the lesson. Students are less likely to be fearful and anxious and more likely to do well if they are well prepared. Preparedness can be enhanced by in-depth mastery of the subject matter, appropriate organization and rehearsing the presentation. Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt
FREQUENT COLLABORATION Collaboration with classmates fosters communicative competence. As in adult life, students can share with one another knowledge and ideas that help solve problems. Small groups working together within a class can help students communicate meaningful ideas to each other. It is sometimes helpful to allow students within a group to conduct individual research, but require the group to make use of all the individually collected elements to write or present a report that depends on each individual’s contribution. In this way, students can simultaneously be taught subject matter, research and presentation skills, and how to work well with others. They may also discover unexpected but valuable connections between various aspects of a topic. Working together in twos, threes or larger groups can facilitate more frequent and insightful communications. In a class of thirty, for example, a student might be expected to speak only one-thirtieth of the time. In a group of two students, a student might speak for half of the time and listen for half of the time, and both the speaking and the listening can be concentrated on what the students need to know or desire to investigate. None of this is to say that teachers should play a passive role. Rather, they can explain what is expected and show correct and incorrect examples. With practice, students can correct one another and themselves. Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt
My propuesta Noviembre 30, 2011 (Raquel)
Please check it!
Carlos 1. What is speaking? (Se debe consultar)
2. Introduction of speaking correction Everyone makes mistakes, even speakers using their own language when they are hurried, ‘lost for words’, or forced into inappropriate language by a difficult or unusual situation. It is hardly surprising, then, that language learners make mistakes, given the difficulty of the task of comprehending, processing the content of the message and knowledge of the target language, and coming out with a response that is both grammatically correct and appropriate to the situation. It is generally agreed that correction is part of the teaching/learning process, but that over-correction and poor correction techniques can be demotivating for the learner and may lead to a reluctance to try out new language or even to speak at all. Teachers need to make informed decisions about what, when and how to correct in order to help learners improve their speaking skills without damaging their confidence. Raquel 3. Mistakes – Errors and slips. Errors are produced as a result of the lack or misinterpretation of knowledge, which, in turn, may be a product of the learner’s stage of language development, or inadequate teaching or learning. Errors cannot be corrected and need to be dealt with by teaching or reteaching. Errors are often noticed in less-guided practice activities when the same error is made by a number of learners, leading the teacher to realize that something has gone wrong in earlier stages of the teaching/learning process. Mistakes, on the other hand, are products of the learner’s efforts to produce language despite prior knowledge. They may be due a variety of factors including over-enthusiasm, over-generalization of rules, interference from the mother tongue, and once the cause has been established, can be dealt with by a number of correction techniques.
4. Reasons why learners make errors There are two main reasons why second language learners make errors:
1. The first reason is influence from the learner’s first language (L1) on the second language. This is called interference. Learners may use sound patterns, lexis or grammatical structures from their own language in English.
2. The second reason why learners make errors is because they are unconsciously working out and organizing language, but this process is not complete. This kind of error is called a developmental error. Learners of whatever mother tongue make these kinds of errors, which are often similar to those made by a young first language speaker as part of their normal language development. Learners wrongly apply a rule for one item of the language to another item, are known as overgeneralization.
Alejandra 5. Accuracy and fluency Mistakes are usually corrected immediately when the aim of the stage of the lesson is to promote accuracy, particularly during the drilling of the target language and during guided practice. Attention to mistakes in these stages improves the chances of correct use of language later, while mistakes made during less-guided practice often indicate that the teacher has not dealt effectively with mistakes at the accuracy stage. When the aim is fluency, however, less intrusive, ‘gentle’ or delayed correction techniques are required in order not to damage either the flow of the activity or the confidence of the learners. 6. Interlanguage In the process of acquiring the language, a learner may acquire forms of language that are in between their first language and their target language. This is their ‘interlanguage’, and is a product of incorrect application of rules, incomplete knowledge, and comparison between two (or more) languages. Interlanguage may seem completely logical and correct in the mind of the learner and may also be a part of a natural learning process where rules get more refined as more input is received. This leads to the belief that mistakes are a healthy part of language learning and should not be dealt with too severely. However, if learners are not corrected, mistakes in their interlanguage may ‘fossilise’ and become permanent.
Armando 7. Ways of helping learners get beyond their errors.
To expose students to lots of language that is just beyond their level through reading or listening.
To give them opportunities to focus on the form of language.
To provide them with time in class to use language to communicate, interact and see
if they can do successfully. 8. Conclusion: Turning a blind eye In the introduction we noted that while correction was necessary to prevent fossilization, over-correction could be demotivating. This means that teachers need to be selective in correction. Some students may notice that some mistakes are not being corrected. Here’s an activity you can use to explain this. Record students’ mistakes and write them on the board, which you divide into two. Write on the right side if they are serious, i.e. interfere with communication, and on the left side if they are not. Ask students to help you decide. When finished, tell students that ‘to turn a blind eye’ means to ignore something wrong, and this is usually done where to do something would be worse than to do nothing. The original expression is reputed to come from Admiral Nelson, who ignored a signal to retreat, by ‘looking’ at it with his blind eye, and then won the battle. Like battles, speaking a foreign language is a risky business, and in the interests of encouragement, mistakes are sometimes overlooked. Ask your students to cover their left eyes and concentrate on the mistakes on the right. TECHNIQUES CORRECT SPOKEN ERRORS Raquel
a) Body language The problems with using body language to show errors could also be that it is taken as very serious criticism or that it is too vague. Possibilities include using your hands (rolling a hand from side to side to mean “so-so attempt”; making a circle by moving your index finger to mean “one more time”; or a cross with fingers, open palms or even forearms to show a very clear “no” or “wrong”- probably only suitable for a team game etc where the responsibility is shared), head (tilted to one side to mean “I’m not sure that sounds correct”), or shoulders (hunched to reinforce “I don’t understand what you are saying”). Again, practising this in a teaching workshop can be useful, as can eliciting other body language teachers could have used after an observation. b) Correction symbols Some teachers use prompts for correction while speaking. Some well-known examples are: • Make a ‘T’ with fingers to illustrate missing ‘the’. • Show a small word missing by holding thumb and forefinger close together. • Cross hands over to show wrong word order. To these I would like to add some more prompts, using sounds, gestures and puns: • Pull ear to show irregular past tense: ‘ear’ sounds the same as the first syllable in ‘irregular’. • ‘With’ and ‘by’ e.g. with car - teacher waves to signal ‘bye’, which sounds the same as ‘by’. • Confusion of auxiliary e.g. I aren’t like swimming - sing ‘Do be do be do’ (Strangers in the night - Frank Sinatra). • Missing ‘ing’ e.g. I am wait for a bus - T says ‘(t)ing’ like a bell ringing. • Unnecessary ‘to’ e.g. I must to go - draw -2 (minus t(w)o) on the board in the air. • Where would is used wrongly, e.g. in conditionals, tap on ‘wood’ to show that ‘would’ is wrong. • Wrong present tense e.g. simple vs. continuous: Use a circling hand motion to prompt continuous, use open arms to show wide, e.g. general time. • Buzz like a bee to show missing verb ‘be’ e.g. I going. • Student says For going instead of to go: Hold up four fingers and then cover two of them to show ‘for’ (4) should be ‘to’ (2). • Make a scissors motion with fingers to cut out unnecessary words .e.g. …which I like it. • I don’t want no tea - make two minus symbols with your fingers, then cross them to make a plus to show two negatives make a positive in English. • On/in - make an ‘o’ with your finger/thumb and change it to ‘I’ straight finger, or vice versa (if appropriate to your culture!). • Adjective used instead of adverb. E.g. He walked slow - make an L shape with your right index finger and thumb. This looks like both ‘l’ and ‘y’, so signifies ‘ly’. Close the thumb and finger to show that the ‘ly’ is unnecessary, i.e. adv. > adj, and open to change adj. > adv. You could invent own symbols. While students need to learn them, which may take time, it brings humor into the sometimes serious task of correction and avoids the need for words. Once the students have learnt the symbols, there is also potential for peer correction. Alejandra c) Facial expression For example, raise an eyebrow, tilt your head to one side or give a slight frown. Most people will do this naturally, but there is a slight chance a teacher’s expression will be too critical or too subtle for your students to pick up on, and you can (amusingly) practice facial expressions in a teaching workshop by participants communicating certain typical classroom messages (“move over there to work with this person”, “work in pairs” etc.) using just their heads and faces, including feedback on spoken errors in that list. d) Manual chat Instead of speaking to each other, students quickly pass pieces of paper back and forward with a written conversation in groups, a bit like chatting on the Internet. This has the advantage of being similar to spoken conversation, but leaving a written record that can be analyzed by students themselves. Carlos e) Tell them how many mistakes This method is only really suitable for controlled speaking practice, but can be a very simple way of giving feedback in that situation. Examples include “Most of the comparatives were right, but you made two mistakes” and “Three words are in the wrong position in the sentence/ are mixed up”. Make sure you only use this method when students can remember what you are referring to without too much prompting. Other useful language: “Very good, but you made just one mistake with the passive” (For a tongue twister) “Good attempt/ Getting better, but in two places you said /sh/ where it should have been /s/. Can you guess which words?” f) Two speaking, one secretary Getting students to focus on each other’s mistakes can be useful, if done tactfully and the reasons explained (it is sometimes easier to see other people’s mistakes other than your own.) While two students speak, a third makes notes of anything that he or she thinks may be wrong. Afterwards the three students can discuss it. Armando g) Just tell them they are wrong (but nicely) Positive ways of being negative include “nearly there”, “getting closer”, “just one mistake”, “much better”, “good idea, but…”,”I understand what you mean but…”, “you have made a mistake that almost everyone does/ that’s a very common mistake”, “we haven’t studied this yet, but…” and “much better pronunciation, but…” With lower level and new classes, you might have to balance the need to be nice with the need to be clear and not confuse them with feedback language that they don’t understand, perhaps by sticking to one or two phrases to give feedback for the first couple of months. It can also be useful to give them translations of this and other classroom language you will use, for example on a worksheet or a poster. h) Encourage participants to keep an error correction notebook. This notebook contains error entries, corrections made, and explanation or background knowledge underlying the correction. This will help both teachers and participants to monitor their errors and review the corrections made. The relevance of the error correction notebook will depend on how the teacher will use this notebook. The teacher, for example, could check the notebook once in a while or give additional speaking exercises in relation to the errors made. This activity will give learners the opportunity to reflect on their errors and hopefully avoid or lessen them. Sugiero solo enlistar estos otros ejercicios o si creen pertinente explicar alguno de éstos además de los mencionados arriba, háganlo o cámbienlos. Point at the correct language If you have something on the correct form easily accessible on the whiteboard, in the textbook or on a poster, just pointing at it can be a subtle but clear way of prompting students to use the correct language. What you point at could be the name of the tense or word form they are supposed to be using, a verb forms table or the actual correct verb form, a grammatical explanation, or another grammatical hint such as “future”, “prediction” or “polite”. Useful language: “Have a look at your books/ the board” “The correct version is somewhere in this chart/ poster/ table” “You copied this down earlier. Have a look in your notebooks” Repeat what they said This can mean repeating the whole sentence, one section of it including the wrong part, the sentence up to the wrong part, the sentence with the wrong part missed out (with maybe a humming noise to show the gap that should be filled) or just the wrong part. You can illustrate that you are showing them an error and give some hint as to which bit is wrong by using a questioning tone (for everything you say or just for the wrong part). This method is overused by some teachers and can sound patronizing if used too often or with the wrong tone of voice, so try to mix up the different versions of it described here and to alternate with methods described in the other tips. Useful language: “The man GOED to the shops?” “The man GOED?” “GOED?” Correction table Draw a table on the board. While students are talking, point to the type of mistake, giving students a chance to self-correct. You could ask for volunteers to speak, e.g. a pair. Afterwards students could try it in groups, with two speaking and one listening and pointing. A table could look like this:
Preposition wrong / missing
Wrong tense, e.g. simple / continuous
Article a / the missing
Wrong Irregular past tense, e.g. swimmed
sounds e.g. silent letters
Word pronoun, he/she, we/us
Wrong infinitive form, e.g. Let him to go.
Simple present, 3rd person -s, e.g. He go.
Word order, e.g. I speak well English
Correction drill Choose a confident student who will not mind having mistakes corrected. Explain that you are going to correct him as he speaks, and that the purpose behind this is not to humiliate, but to help. The student should speak, e.g. tell a story about himself. You repeat each sentence. If there are mistakes, you repeat the sentence correctly and the rest of the class does the same after you. The rationale is 1) students get to hear how they should sound, 2) the rest of the class is involved, and they listen to the original and the teacher’s improvement. 3) By using intonation to show interest, approval, disapproval, and surprise in a light-hearted way, which can be echoed by the class, you focus on meaning as well as form. Example: • S1: I stood up late. • T: Oh you got up late! (disapproving) • SS: You got up late! (disapproving) • S1: I got up late, then I eat big breakfast. • T: You had a big breakfast. (amused) • SS: You had a big breakfast. (amused) etc. • S1: Yes, I had a big breakfast then I went at the park. Collect the errors for later You can then correct them later in the same class (with a game like a grammar auction or just eliciting corrections from the class) or in a future class (for example writing error dictation pairwork worksheets or using the same techniques as can be used in the same class). Make sure you give positive reinforcement as well, e.g. “Someone said this sentence, and that is really good.” Useful language: “Here are some things that people said in the last activity” “I heard several people say this one. “Can anyone correct this sentence? It has one missing word/ one word missing/ You need to add one word” “The words are in the wrong order/ You need to change the words around/ change the word order/ mix the words up” “This is a typical mistake for students from…” “Don’t worry, even native speakers make this mistake sometimes/ every nationality makes this mistake” “This mistake is something we studied last week” Just say the right version The students can then repeat the correct version or tell you what the difference between the two sentences was and why their version was wrong. Because the students don’t do much of the work in this way of being corrected, it might not be as good a way of remembering the correction as methods where you give more subtle clues. Its advantages are that it is quick and suits cultures, classes and students that think of elicitation as shirking by the teacher. It can also be more face-saving than asking them for self-correction, as trying to correct themselves risks making even more mistakes. The “right version” could mean the whole sentence or just the correction of the part that was wrong. In the latter case, you can then ask them to put it into the sentence in the right place and repeat the whole thing. Useful language: “I understand what you are saying, but you need to say…” “We studied this last week. “Hardly” has a different meaning to “hard”, so you need to say…?” “The past of say is pronounced /sed/. So your sentence should be…?” Use grammatical terminology to identify the mistake For example, “(You used) the wrong tense”, “Not the Present Perfect”, “You need an adverb, not an adjective” or “Can change that into the passive/ indirect speech?” This method is perhaps overused, and you need to be sure that the grammatical terminology isn’t just going to confuse them more. Other useful language: “Because that is the present simple, you need to add the auxiliary (verb) ‘do’” “Say the same sentence, but with the comparative form” Give the rule For example, “‘Since’ usually takes the Present Perfect” or “One syllable adjectives make the comparative with –er, not more + adjective” This works best if they already know the rule, and you at least need to make sure that they will quickly understand what you are saying, for example by only using grammatical terminology you have used with them several times before. “You got all the articles right this time, so I’ll give you 9 out of 10” Ask partners to spot errors This is a fairly well-known way of giving feedback in speaking tasks, but it can be a minefield if the person giving feedback has no confidence in their ability to do so or in how well the feedback (i.e. criticism) will be taken, and even more so if the person receiving the feedback will in fact react badly. This method is easier to do and easier to take when they have been told specifically which language to use while speaking and so to look out for when listening, usually meaning controlled speaking practice tasks. The feedback can be made even simpler to give and collect and more neutral with some careful planning, e.g. asking them count how many times their partner uses the target form as well as or instead of looking for when it used incorrectly. Try again! Sometimes, students don’t need much help at all but just a chance to do it again. This is likely to be true if you have trained them well in spotting their own errors, if there was some other kind of mental load such as a puzzle to solve that was distracting them from the language, or if they have had a chance to hear someone else doing the same speaking task in the class or on a recording. Useful language: “One more time (but think about the grammar more this time/ but concentrating on making less mistakes instead of speaking quickly)” “Give it another go” “Do you want one more chance before you get the final score” Written correction exercises Written correction exercises can raise awareness of errors made in speaking, and can be chosen to reflect students’ common mistakes. Launch an initial investigation into the participants’ learning profile. A quick survey, for example an introductory session before beginning the class or questionnaires, will help both teachers and participants to negotiate and determine the most suitable method to deal with the participants’ errors. This will also give the participants the opportunity to see for themselves if they could cope with the selected correction method. The most important thing here is to make the learners comfortable with the error correction method used in class. Give positive feedback and acknowledge learners’ progress in L2 speaking. These acts can touch boost participants’ confidence. A teacher’s response of ‘That’s wrong!’ will make them focus on the errors and not the revision. On the other hand, constructive comments like ‘Do you mean?’ and sincere compliments such as ‘That is interesting’ or ‘What a clear explanation’ will add participants’ willingness to improve. In short, if teachers can highlight participants’ progress, they can neutralize the negative emotions created by the corrections on fluency, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Sources Por favor incluyan los enlaces o la bibliografía http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/methodology/classroom-management/classroom-management-speaking-correction-techniques/146455.article
Alex Case is TEFL.net Reviews Editor and author of the popular blog TEFLtastic.
Handout and power point (Raquel)
Handout (Raquel) Task 1. Talk to your partner about the differences between errors and mistakes and make notes.
Errors:
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Mistakes (slips)
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.................................................................................................. Task 2. Complete these sentences about reasons why learners make errors.
The influence from the learners’ first language en the second language, this is called ………………………………………….
The learners make errors is because they are unconsciously working out and organizing language, this kind of error is called …………………………………error.
Learners wrongly apply a rule for one item of the language to another item, it is known as ……………………………………………
Hello dear friends: Carlos, Alejandra and Armando
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This wiki is a cooperative application where we can add information about our topic "Speaking correction" and mainly we can edit it.
Please paste information in this wiki about the topic until Monday, November the 21st, thank you.
RaquelThis is information I found on internet, November 16th.
SPEAKING CORRECTION
Suggestions of speaking correction techniques to use when teaching English.I want to know. What's the best way to correct students when they make a mistake, especially when they are speaking?
Posted: 30 May 2005 at 9:00pm
Introduction
I
Everyone makes mistakes, even speakers using their own language when they are hurried, ‘lost for words’, or forced into inappropriate language by a difficult or unusual situation. It is hardly surprising, then, that language learners make mistakes, given the difficulty of the task of comprehending, processing the content of the message and knowledge of the target language, and coming out with a response that is both grammatically correct and appropriate to the situation.
It is generally agreed that correction is part of the teaching/learning process, but that over-correction and poor correction techniques can be demotivating for the learner and may lead to a reluctance to try out new language or even to speak at all. Teachers need to make informed decisions about what, when and how to correct in order to help learners improve their speaking skills without damaging their confidence. The following are important points to consider:
Mistakes and errors
Errors are produced as a result of the lack or misinterpretation of knowledge, which, in turn, may be a product of the learner’s stage of language development, or inadequate teaching or learning. Errors cannot be corrected and need to be dealt with by teaching or reteaching. Errors are often noticed in less-guided practice activities when the same error is made by a number of learners, leading the teacher to realize that something has gone wrong in earlier stages of the teaching/learning process. Mistakes, on the other hand, are products of the learner’s efforts to produce language despite prior knowledge. They may be due a variety of factors including over-enthusiasm, over-generalization of rules, interference from the mother tongue, and once the cause has been established, can be dealt with by a number of correction techniques.
Accuracy and fluency
Mistakes are usually corrected immediately when the aim of the stage of the lesson is to promote accuracy, particularly during the drilling of the target language and during guided practice. Attention to mistakes in these stages improves the chances of correct use of language later, while mistakes made during less-guided practice often indicate that the teacher has not dealt effectively with mistakes at the accuracy stage. When the aim is fluency, however, less intrusive, ‘gentle’ or delayed correction techniques are required in order not to damage either the flow of the activity or the confidence of the learners.
Interlanguage
In the process of acquiring the language, a learner may acquire forms of language that are in between their first language and their target language. This is their ‘interlanguage’, and is a product of incorrect application of rules, incomplete knowledge, and comparison between two (or more) languages. Interlanguage may seem completely logical and correct in the mind of the learner and may also be a part of a natural learning process where rules get more refined as more input is received. This leads to the belief that mistakes are a healthy part of language learning and should not be dealt with too severely. However, if learners are not corrected, mistakes in their interlanguage may ‘fossilise’ and become permanent.
Good learners
Oddly, ‘good’ learners often make more mistakes than others. This tends to be because they have more confidence, produce more language and are highly motivated to speak. Good learners are also ‘hypothesis testers’ in that that they can formulate and try out rules of their own, and ‘risk takers’ in that they are prepared to ‘have a go’. These learners need to be encouraged, and are often capable of self-correction.
Teachers need to consider the above, get to know their learners and their learning backgrounds, develop an attitude to correction and be equipped with a variety of correction techniques which are appropriate to a variety of learner types and learning situations. Bearing this in mind, we suggest some activities that teachers might like to try in their classrooms.
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Part 1: While-speaking correction
Correction symbols
Some teachers use prompts for correction while speaking. Some well-known examples are:
Make a ‘T’ with fingers to illustrate missing ‘the’.
Show a small word missing by holding thumb and forefinger close together.
Cross hands over to show wrong word order.
To these I would like to add some more prompts, using sounds, gestures and puns:
Pull ear to show irregular past tense: ‘ear’ sounds the same as the first syllable in ‘irregular’.
‘With’ and ‘by’ e.g. with car - teacher waves to signal ‘bye’, which sounds the same as ‘by’.
Confusion of auxiliary e.g. I aren’t like swimming - sing ‘Do be do be do’ (Strangers in the night - Frank Sinatra).
Missing ‘ing’ e.g. I am wait for a bus - T says ‘(t)ing’ like a bell ringing.
Unnecessary ‘to’ e.g. I must to go - draw -2 (minus t(w)o) on the board in the air.
Where would is used wrongly, e.g. in conditionals, tap on ‘wood’ to show that ‘would’ is wrong.
Wrong present tense e.g. simple vs. continuous: Use a circling hand motion to prompt continuous, use open arms to show wide, e.g. general time.
Buzz like a bee to show missing verb ‘be’ e.g. I going.
Student says For going instead of to go: Hold up four fingers and then cover two of them to show ‘for’ (4) should be ‘to’ (2).
Make a scissors motion with fingers to cut out unnecessary words .e.g. …which I like it.
I don’t want no tea - make two minus symbols with your fingers, then cross them to make a plus to show two negatives make a positive in English.
On/in - make an ‘o’ with your finger/thumb and change it to ‘I’ straight finger, or vice versa (if appropriate to your culture!).
Adjective used instead of adverb. E.g. He walked slow - make an L shape with your right index finger and thumb. This looks like both ‘l’ and ‘y’, so signifies ‘ly’. Close the thumb and finger to show that the ‘ly’ is unnecessary, i.e. adv. > adj, and open to change adj. > adv.
You could invent own symbols. While students need to learn them, which may take time, it brings humour into the sometimes serious task of correction and avoids the need for words. Once the students have learnt the symbols, there is also potential for peer correction.
Correction table
Draw a table on the board. While students are talking, point to the type of mistake, giving students a chance to self-correct. You could ask for volunteers to speak, e.g. a pair. Afterwards students could try it in groups, with two speaking and one listening and pointing. A table could look like this:
Preposition wrong / missing
Wrong tense, e.g. simple / continuous
Article a / the missing / wrong
Phonology,
sounds e.g. silent letters
Word stress
Wrong infinitive form, e.g. Let him to go.
Simple present, 3rd person -s, e.g. He go.
They goes.
Word order, e.g. I speak well English.
Wrong word
Wrong form, e.g. adverb / adjective
Wrong pronoun, he/she, we/us
Irregular past tense, e.g. swimmed
Correction drill
Choose a confident student who will not mind having mistakes corrected. Explain that you are going to correct him as he speaks, and that the purpose behind this is not to humiliate, but to help. The student should speak, e.g. tell a story about himself. You repeat each sentence. If there are mistakes, you repeat the sentence correctly and the rest of the class does the same after you. The rationale is 1) students get to hear how they should sound, 2) the rest of the class is involved, and they listen to the original and the teacher’s improvement. 3) By using intonation to show interest, approval, disapproval, and surprise in a light-hearted way, which can be echoed by the class, you focus on meaning as well as form. Example:
S1: I stood up late.
T: Oh you got up late! (disapproving)
SS: You got up late! (disapproving)
S1: I got up late, then I eat big breakfast.
T: You had a big breakfast. (amused)
SS: You had a big breakfast. (amused) etc.
S1: Yes, I had a big breakfast then I went at the park.
Teacher’s shadow
Put students in groups for conversation. Choose one student to shadow you while you walk around, monitoring. When you hear a mistake, correct it and replace the student who made it with your shadow, so that you have new shadow. Continue until you have had a number of different shadows. Shadows can help you listen for mistakes, too. The aims are: to give the students a teacher’s view of the class, to make students aware of mistakes. Also it should show it's not only weak students who make mistakes. As we noted in the introduction, ‘good’ students who speak more and try to use more complex language make mistakes, so stress that being a shadow is not a punishment.
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Part 2: Post-speaking correction
Speaking graph
Ask for a pair of volunteers to speak on a certain subject. While they speak, draw a line on a graph which represents the students’ level of speaking quality. When mistakes are made the line goes down. When the students are speaking well, it goes up. Make a note of the positive things as well as the mistakes. Here’s an example of a feedback commentary.
After a slow start, this conversation picks up. The teacher notes the correct use of ‘used to’. However a tense mistake is made. This is followed by a minor mistake, a missing preposition. Then there is a fluent stage with both students speaking well. Unfortunately one student uses a wrong word. However, contractions are well used. A mispronunciation towards the end is the only slight problem in the last stages.
To give students encouragement, note that most of the time they are above the line of clear communication, only a couple of mistakes cause confusion for the listener, while other mistakes do not interfere with comprehension. Of course, not every mistake needs to be noted; in fact as the purpose is to encourage, over-correction would be counter-productive. Note: if writing on the board distracts students, do it on paper and transfer to the board when they have finished.
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Part 3: Students look at their own mistakes
Two speaking, one secretary
Getting students to focus on each other’s mistakes can be useful, if done tactfully and the reasons explained (it is sometimes easier to see other people’s mistakes other than your own.) While two students speak, a third makes notes of anything that he or she thinks may be wrong. Afterwards the three students can discuss it.
Manual chat
Instead of speaking to each other, students quickly pass pieces of paper back and forward with a written conversation in groups, a bit like chatting on the Internet. This has the advantage of being similar to spoken conversation, but leaving a written record that can be analyzed by students themselves.
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Part 4: Written correction exercises
Written correction exercises can raise awareness of errors made in speaking, and can be chosen to reflect students’ common mistakes.
Booing and cheering correction
Write six or so sentences on the board, some of which should contain mistakes. Students locate the mistakes as follows: As you point to each sentence, get the class to cheer or boo, according to whether they think it is correct or not. Put a cross next to the sentences the class thinks are incorrect. Point at these word by word until the mistake is located, again by booing and cheering.
Rule and mistake sentences
To help students remember not to make mistakes, write sentences which both give and break the rules. Try getting students to correct these examples:
=When you writing a present continuous sentence, always include the verb ‘to be’ (When you are writing…)
For making sentences expressing purpose, use an infinitive.
You know how to use an auxiliary verb in present tense questions?
If I you will tell me how to use ‘if’ with present, I will not make a mistake.
I forgetted that some past tense verbs are irregular.
Teachers should not to let students use unnecessary words.
When use an adverb clause, don’t forget to use a participle.
Use a preposition when you listen the radio, don’t when you watch to the TV.
He’s never used a past time clause with present perfect until last week.
Use ‘a’ the first time you introduce a word, but use ‘the’ for a same word later.
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Conclusion: Turning a blind eye
In the introduction we noted that while correction was necessary to prevent fossilization, over-correction could be demotivating. This means that teachers need to be selective in correction. Some students may notice that some mistakes are not being corrected. Here’s an activity you can use to explain this.
Record students’ mistakes and write them on the board, which you divide into two. Write on the right side if they are serious, i.e. interfere with communication, and on the left side if they are not. Ask students to help you decide. When finished, tell students that ‘to turn a blind eye’ means to ignore something wrong, and this is usually done where to do something would be worse than to do nothing. The original expression is reputed to come from Admiral Nelson, who ignored a signal to retreat, by ‘looking’ at it with his blind eye, and then won the battle. Like battles, speaking a foreign language is a risky business, and in the interests of encouragement, mistakes are sometimes overlooked. Ask your students to cover their left eyes and concentrate on the mistakes on the right.
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Simon Mumford teaches at the University of Economics, Izmir Turkey. He also is an oral examiner, trainer and workshop organizer for the British Council in Izmir. He is especially interested in the application of creative thinking to classroom activity design.
Steve Darn has lived and taught in Turkey for over 20 years, and is currently a teacher and trainer in the School of Foreign Languages at Izmir University of Economics. He also trains teachers and trainers for the British Council in Turkey and is a tutor and assessor for Cambridge ESOL Teaching Awards. He is a regular contributor to a number of ELT
magazines.
Links of videos:
http://youtu.be/p1kfa2v68Zs (animated)
http://youtu.be/znswuO4goYg ( British – fun way)
Hello dear friends: Raquel, Carlos and Armando I add something interesting about the topic
SPEAKING CORRECTION
15 ways to correct spoken errors
1. Collect the errors for later You can then correct them later in the same class (with a game like a grammar auction or just eliciting corrections from the class) or in a future class (for example writing error dictation pairwork worksheets or using the same techniques as can be used in the same class). [...]Written by Alex Case for TEFL.net
1. Collect the errors for later
You can then correct them later in the same class (with a game like a grammar auction or just eliciting corrections from the class) or in a future class (for example writing error dictation pairwork worksheets or using the same techniques as can be used in the same class). Make sure you give positive reinforcement as well, e.g. “Someone said this sentence, and that is really good.”
Useful language:
“Here are some things that people said in the last activity”
“I heard several people say this one”
“Can anyone correct this sentence? It has one missing word/ one word missing/ You need to add one word”
“The words are in the wrong order/ You need to change the words around/ change the word order/ mix the words up”
“This is a typical mistake for students from…”
“Don’t worry, even native speakers make this mistake sometimes/ every nationality makes this mistake”
“This mistake is something we studied last week”
2. Facial expression
For example, raise an eyebrow, tilt your head to one side or give a slight frown. Most people will do this naturally, but there is a slight chance a teacher’s expression will be too critical or too subtle for your students to pick up on, and you can (amusingly) practice facial expressions in a teaching workshop by participants communicating certain typical classroom messages (“move over there to work with this person”, “work in pairs” etc.) using just their heads and faces, including feedback on spoken errors in that list.
3. Body language
The problems with using body language to show errors could also be that it is taken as very serious criticism or that it is too vague. Possibilities include using your hands (rolling a hand from side to side to mean “so-so attempt”; making a circle by moving your index finger to mean “one more time”; or a cross with fingers, open palms or even forearms to show a very clear “no” or “wrong”- probably only suitable for a team game etc where the responsibility is shared), head (tilted to one side to mean “I’m not sure that sounds correct”), or shoulders (hunched to reinforce “I don’t understand what you are saying”). Again, practising this in a teaching workshop can be useful, as can eliciting other body language teachers could have used after an observation.
4. Point at the correct language
If you have something on the correct form easily accessible on the whiteboard, in the textbook or on a poster, just pointing at it can be a subtle but clear way of prompting students to use the correct language. What you point at could be the name of the tense or word form they are supposed to be using, a verb forms table or the actual correct verb form, a grammatical explanation, or another grammatical hint such as “future”, “prediction” or “polite”.
Useful language:
“Have a look at your books/ the board”
“The correct version is somewhere in this chart/ poster/ table”
“You copied this down earlier. Have a look in your notebooks”
5. Repeat what they said
This can mean repeating the whole sentence, one section of it including the wrong part, the sentence up to the wrong part, the sentence with the wrong part missed out (with maybe a humming noise to show the gap that should be filled) or just the wrong part. You can illustrate that you are showing them an error and give some hint as to which bit is wrong by using a questioning tone (for everything you say or just for the wrong part). This method is overused by some teachers and can sound patronising if used too often or with the wrong tone of voice, so try to mix up the different versions of it described here and to alternate with methods described in the other tips.
Useful language:
“The man GOED to the shops?”
“The man GOED?”
“GOED?”
6. Just say the right version
The students can then repeat the correct version or tell you what the difference between the two sentences was and why their version was wrong. Because the students don’t do much of the work in this way of being corrected, it might not be as good a way of remembering the correction as methods where you give more subtle clues. Its advantages are that it is quick and suits cultures, classes and students that think of elicitation as shirking by the teacher. It can also be more face-saving than asking them for self-correction, as trying to correct themselves risks making even more mistakes. The “right version” could mean the whole sentence or just the correction of the part that was wrong. In the latter case, you can then ask them to put it into the sentence in the right place and repeat the whole thing.
Useful language:
“I understand what you are saying, but you need to say…”
“We studied this last week. “Hardly” has a different meaning to “hard”, so you need to say…?”
“The past of say is pronounced /sed/. So your sentence should be…?”
7. Tell them how many mistakes
This method is only really suitable for controlled speaking practice, but can be a very simple way of giving feedback in that situation. Examples include “Most of the comparatives were right, but you made two mistakes” and “Three words are in the wrong position in the sentence/ are mixed up”. Make sure you only use this method when students can remember what you are referring to without too much prompting.
Other useful language:
“Very good, but you made just one mistake with the passive”
(For a tongue twister) “Good attempt/ Getting better, but in two places you said /sh/ where it should have been /s/. Can you guess which words?”
8. Use grammatical terminology to identify the mistake
For example, “(You used) the wrong tense”, “Not the Present Perfect”, “You need an adverb, not an adjective” or “Can change that into the passive/ indirect speech?” This method is perhaps overused, and you need to be sure that the grammatical terminology isn’t just going to confuse them more.
Other useful language:
“Because that is the present simple, you need to add the auxiliary (verb) ‘do’”
“Say the same sentence, but with the comparative form”
9. Give the rule
For example, “‘Since’ usually takes the Present Perfect” or “One syllable adjectives make the comparative with –er, not more + adjective” This works best if they already know the rule, and you at least need to make sure that they will quickly understand what you are saying, for example by only using grammatical terminology you have used with them several times before.
10. Give a number of points
This is probably best saved for part of a game, especially one where students work together, but you can give each response a number of points out of 10. The same or other teams can then make another attempt at saying the same thing to see if they can get more points. If you don’t want students to focus on accuracy too much, tell them that the points will also give them credit for good pronunciation, fluency, politeness, persuasiveness and/ or originality of ideas.
Useful language:
“Very good fluency and very interesting, but a few basic mistakes, so I’ll give your team a score of (IELTS) 5.5. Practice your script in your team again for 5 minutes and we’ll try it one more time”
“You got all the articles right this time, so I’ll give you 9 out of 10”
11. Just tell them they are wrong (but nicely)
Positive ways of being negative include “nearly there”, “getting closer”, “just one mistake”, “much better”, “good idea, but…”,”I understand what you mean but…”, “you have made a mistake that almost everyone does/ that’s a very common mistake”, “we haven’t studied this yet, but…” and “much better pronunciation, but…” With lower level and new classes, you might have to balance the need to be nice with the need to be clear and not confuse them with feedback language that they don’t understand, perhaps by sticking to one or two phrases to give feedback for the first couple of months. It can also be useful to give them translations of this and other classroom language you will use, for example on a worksheet or a poster.
12. Tell them what part they should change
For example, “You need to change the introduction to your presentation” or “Try replacing the third word with something else”
13. Ask partners to spot errors
This is a fairly well-known way of giving feedback in speaking tasks, but it can be a minefield if the person giving feedback has no confidence in their ability to do so or in how well the feedback (i.e. criticism) will be taken, and even more so if the person receiving the feedback will in fact react badly. This method is easier to do and easier to take when they have been told specifically which language to use while speaking and so to look out for when listening, usually meaning controlled speaking practice tasks. The feedback can be made even simpler to give and collect and more neutral with some careful planning, e.g. asking them count how many times their partner uses the target form as well as or instead of looking for when it used incorrectly.
14. Try again!
Sometimes, students don’t need much help at all but just a chance to do it again. This is likely to be true if you have trained them well in spotting their own errors, if there was some other kind of mental load such as a puzzle to solve that was distracting them from the language, or if they have had a chance to hear someone else doing the same speaking task in the class or on a recording.
Useful language:
“One more time (but think about the grammar more this time/ but concentrating on making less mistakes instead of speaking quickly)”
“Give it another go”
“Do you want one more chance before you get the final score”
15. Remind them when you studied that point
For example, “Nearly right, but you’ve forgotten the grammar that we studied last week” or “You’ve made the same mistake as everyone made in the last test”.
And finally, a tip that isn’t included in the count of fifteen points as it is the opposite of what the article is supposed to be about:
16. Don’t
Sometimes students won’t benefit from any feedback on spoken errors. I could write another whole article on how to choose when to correct and when not to, and I may well do so…
Useful language:
“We’re concentrating on fluency today, so we’ll leave the error correction until next week”
“There is practice of this in your homework, so we’ll just try and use the language for communication today, and concentrate more on getting the grammar right next week
Written by Alex Case for TEFL.net | October 2008
Alex Case is TEFL.net Reviews Editor and author of the popular blog TEFLtastic.
LINK
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/speak/correcting-spoken-errors/
Sent by Alejandra
November the 17th, 2011.
Alejandra,the information you pasted is pretty interesting. Thanks so much.
Raquel.
Error Correction in Speaking 1 Class for Adult Learners in Petra Christian University
By
Herwindy Maria Tedjaatmadja
Henny Putri Saking Wijaya
Petra Christian University, Surabaya
Introduction
Speaking has always been one of the most difficult skills for learners to develop because it requires them to produce the language which most of the time, spontaneously or without enough time to construct the appropriate and correct utterances. English language learning is a process where all aspects of English (listening, reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary, and grammar) are interconnected. Consequently, in order for learners to develop their speaking proficiency, all aspects of languages must be involved. Due to a lack of English exposure in non-English speaking countries, most learners do not have sufficient opportunity to improve their oral proficiency in English. Language teachers usually hold the most authority to correct learners’ errors, especially regarding the fact that learners value and expect teachers’ feedback on their work. However, to most language teachers, correcting students’ speaking errors is one of the most frustrating tasks because it has more potential for subjectivity due to individual variables such as background knowledge, pronunciation, and spontaneity as influential parts (Cohen, 1990 and Hughes, 2002). Therefore, error correction should be done appropriately; lest, it will discourage them from practicing the language. This paper will be divided into four major parts: introduction, the nature of error correction, error correction in Speaking 1, and conclusion.
The Nature of Error Correction
Before we go further into the error correction in Speaking 1, it is necessary to describe the definition of errors. Many language teachers believe that errors are inevitable yet indicators of the progress in language learning. Davis and Pearse (2000: 103) state that “errors are integral part of language learning and not evidence of failure to learn”. Many studies have indicated that errors are signals that learning occurs; in other words, errors indicate learners’ stage which reflects parts of lesson that have been understood and to be improved (Smith, 1994 and Hedge, 2000). Error correction is defined as ‘a response either to the content of what a student has produced or to the form of the utterance’ (Richards and Lockharts, 1996: 188). However, considering the individual variables such as contexts, pronunciation, vocabulary, and spontaneity as influential parts in speaking, error correction in speaking is highly challenging and possibly perplexing. There are many factors to be carefully considered such as learners’ level, which errors to be corrected, when, and how to correct. To reiterate, it is emphasized that errors are inevitable in language learning; thus, appropriate error correction method is needed. A class observation in Speaking 1 in Petra Christian University will stimulate the discussion on how to correct errors in the communicative speaking class, mainly from participants’ profile and participants’ attitude toward error correction.
Error Correction in Speaking 1
Speaking 1 is an integrated English course designed for non-English department teachers and staff in Petra Christian University. It aims to achieve more complete English proficiency by focusing on the speaking skills to help students communicate effectively on daily topics. There are fifteen units in this book in which group discussion, role-play, problem-solving activities, and public speaking are some of the activities during the course. This course runs five days a week for 2 hours per meeting. Participants’ English proficiency ranges from pre-intermediate to intermediate level. All participants are encouraged to take an active role in sharing ideas with their classmates, thus creating a more dynamic learning environment. In general, the age of the participants range from early 20 to late 50s. It is important to know learners’ profile for a better teaching-learning process; consequently, questionnaires have been distributed to identify participants’ expectations, problems, and suggestions for the material, ways of teaching as well as ways of correction. Then, lecturers respond to their preferences based on the result of the questionnaires in order to create a more conducive learning atmosphere. During the sessions, most participants write down the feedback or suggestion the teachers have given, which point out that they have high motivation to join this course. In addition, they sometimes bring some questions on how certain expressions are used, what phrase to use and so on to the classroom that make the learning process become more engaging.
In language learning, how far students can deal with error correction also depends on their level of proficiency and previous knowledge. Therefore, it is a must for teachers to know learners’ level and previous knowledge to avoid discouragement on the learners’ side. Learning is a journey taken by learners; thus, teachers should build up a sense of togetherness in Speaking 1 class. It is highlighted that everyone is learning, and making errors is one of the signals that learning takes place; hence, each participant is strongly encouraged not to laugh at others’ mistakes. Both the teachers and participants need to be aware of the importance of constructive corrections. Although teacher’s assessment of errors may vary, the types of errors to be corrected depend on the purpose of the course itself; in other words, what is being required or being taught to the participants. When these conditions are not met, the teachers turn to their individual judgment of learners’ performance in class. In addition, the goal of language learning and teaching highlights the pedagogical decision to correct only what is being taught and to give teachers direction about what information is lacking (Wajnryb, 1992: 51). In our cases, the focuses are on content (30%), fluency (30%), vocabulary (20%), grammar (10%), and pronunciation (10%).
Level of proficiency takes an important role in error correction because if the explanation of errors is beyond their level of proficiency, it will bring limited or no advantages (Allwright, 1975 and Krashen, 1982, cited in Cohen, 1990: 60). Participants in Speaking 1 usually assumed that ‘to’ was always followed by infinitives. So, when they produced the utterances, for example “I am used to swimming”, they were likely to say “I am used to swim”. In Speaking 1, this error needs to be highlighted without further explanation about it since it will confuse the learners.
On the other hand, a ‘small’ error should be also highlighted if it can bring negative impacts when it keeps occurring. As a part of speaking, non-transferability of conversational patterns across culture also exists; thus, errors can happen. In making apology in English, for instance, several ways of expressing apology based on degree of formality and sincerity can carry implicit meanings which are open for many interpretations. The word ‘very’ in English apologizing ‘I’m very sorry’, for example, creates a formal atmosphere but not sincere whereas the word ‘really’ as in ‘I’m really sorry’ indicates sincerity (Cohen, 1990). Moreover, most participants in Speaking 1 had the background knowledge that ‘I am sorry’ or ‘Sorry’ was the only expression of apologizing. Therefore, whenever they needed to apologize, they would say ‘I’m sorry’ although it was addressed to their supervisors in a formal meeting. When looking at the useful expressions in the book (e.g. I apologize for , etc), they had questions about the appropriate use of apologizing expressions in certain situations because the different expressions of apology never exist in Indonesian repertoire. Hence, in this case, the teacher needs to explain how to use the expressions appropriately so that the learners will not make the same error.
It is also to be taken into consideration that correcting too many errors can discourage the participants but ignoring their errors will lead to fossilization. Therefore, attitude toward error correction is another factor to determine the success of error correction. Based on the result of the questionnaires, the majority of the participants preferred to be corrected right away after they made the mistakes. If the learners have a positive attitude toward the learning process, they will not be discouraged by a lot of corrections given by the teacher. For instance, one participant in Speaking 1 had a poor pronunciation skill and often made pronunciation mistakes. Nevertheless, she liked to be corrected. During an informal interview, she stated that her reason of joining the Speaking class was because she wanted to improve her speaking skill, mainly her pronunciation. As a consequence, she could enjoy the learning process and was not discouraged by the error correction.
Conclusion
Error correction in speaking classes needs a careful treatment because every learner will give different reactions to the feedback given by teachers. The main purpose of most of speaking class is to make the learners use the language they have learnt appropriately and accurately in the right contexts. That is why it is suggested that teachers correct selectively and constructively. The followings are some suggestions drawn from the class observation in Speaking 1:
A quick survey, for example an introductory session before beginning the class or questionnaires, will help both teachers and participants to negotiate and determine the most suitable method to deal with the participants’ errors. This will also give the participants the opportunity to see for themselves if they could cope with the selected correction method. The most important thing here is to make the learners comfortable with the error correction method used in class.
This notebook contains error entries, corrections made, and explanation or background knowledge underlying the correction. This will help both teachers and participants to monitor their errors and review the corrections made. The relevance of the error correction notebook will depend on how the teacher will use this notebook. The teacher, for example, could check the notebook once in a while or give additional speaking exercises in relation to the errors made. This activity will give learners the opportunity to reflect on their errors and hopefully avoid or lessen them.
These acts can touch boost participants’ confidence. A teacher’s response of ‘That’s wrong!’ will make them focus on the errors and not the revision. On the other hand, constructive comments like ‘Do you mean ?’ and sincere compliments such as ‘That is interesting’ or ‘What a clear explanation’ will add participants’ willingness to improve. In short, if teachers can highlight participants’ progress, they can neutralize the negative emotions created by the corrections on fluency, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary.
References
Cohen, A. (1990). Language Learning. Boston: Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Davies, P. and E. Pearse (2000). Success in English Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hughes, R. (2002). Teaching and Researching Speaking. London: Pearson Education.
Richards, J. C. & C. Lockhart (1996). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Smith, M.S. (1994). Second Language Learning: Theoretical Foundations. Harlow: Longman.
Wajnryb, R. (1992). Classroom Observation Task. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10 Tips to Speak Correct English
i. Observe the mouth movements of those who speak English well and try to imitate them.
When you are watching television, observe the mouth movements of the speakers. Repeat what they are saying, while
imitating the intonation and rhythm of their speech.
ii. Until you learn the correct intonation and rhythm of English, slow your speech down.
If you speak too quickly, and with the wrong intonation and rhythm, native speakers will have a hard time
understanding you.
Don't worry about your listener getting impatient with your slow speech -- it is more important that everything you say
be understood.
iii. Listen to the 'music' of English.
Do not use the 'music' of your native language when you speak English. Each language has its own way of 'singing'.
iv. Use the dictionary.
Try and familiarise yourself with the phonetic symbols of your dictionary. Look up the correct pronunciation of words
that are hard for you to say.
v. Make a list of frequently used words that you find difficult to pronounce and ask someone
who speaks the language well to pronounce them for you.
Record these words, listen to them and practice saying them. Listen and read at the same time.
vi. Buy books on tape.
Record yourself reading some sections of the book. Compare the sound of your English with that of the person
reading the book on the tape.
vii. Pronounce the ending of each word.
Pay special attention to 'S' and 'ED' endings. This will help you strengthen the mouth muscles that you use when you
speak English.
viii. Read aloud in English for 15-20 minutes every day.
Research has shown it takes about three months of daily practice to develop strong mouth muscles for speaking a
new language.
ix. Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes.
Many people hate to hear the sound of their voice and avoid listening to themselves speak. However, this is a very
important exercise because doing it will help you become conscious of the mistakes you are making.
x. Be patient.
You can change the way you speak but it won't happen overnight. People often expect instant results and give up too
soon. You can change the way you sound if you are willing to put some effort into it.
Visit for more Tips, Tricks & eBooks : -
www.ElectronicBooks.tk
www.ElectronicBooks.110mb.com
It's my information getting in the net, check and review it
Regards
Armando
Wednesday, november the 23
Hello Armando, thanks for your contribution.
Please dear classmates, go on looking for more information.
Check the information pasted here to decide which topics to deal in order to distritbute them to prepare our presentation.
If you have any suggestions, please mention them here.
Let's meet in the messenger, please, please.
Raquel.
HI GUYS THIS WHAT I'VE FOUND. CHECK
ERROR CORRECTION AND FEEDBACK IN LANGUAGE LEARNING
Students deserve to be corrected so that they improve their accuracy and understanding.
Learners report that they want to be corrected. Yet, research indicates that overcorrection of either oral or written work by the teacher discourages students from speaking or writing. Clearly, correcting learners to the point that they remain silent is counterproductive. The same is true of returning written work to learners with so many corrections that they believe they will never overcome their mistakes. Research based on classroom observation shows that teachers use a number of strategies for the correction of errors. This varies from direct corrections—such as pointing to what is wrong—to more indirect means—such as repeating the phrase correctly or asking students to explain the rule. Studies indicate that teachers prefer to say again and correctly what the student has said. Nevertheless, while this appears to be a very polite form of correction, learners tend to ignore it. They focus on meaning and treat the teacher’s utterance as mere participation in the conversation. To have more impact, teachers should ask for clarification (“I’m sorry. I didn’t understand that. What do you mean?”). Students are then more likely to incorporate corrections into their speech. Errors in comprehension are obviously much more difficult to recognize and research indicates that teachers often cannot “see” these errors at all or dismiss them as a lack of initiative on the part of readers.
Error correction should always be positive, yet targeted. Learners should be able to understand what their mistakes are and how to correct them in the context of what they do correctly. Learners can easily accept: “No. Remember there is an -s on the third person singular verbs. It’s ‘he runs’. If you could fix that, your story line would be much clearer”. It is much more unpleasant to hear “When are you ever going to remember that there is an -s ending on the third-person singular?” and easy to shut down.
Teachers also need to think about errors as more than mere grammatical mistakes. Errors in content, based either on factual mistakes or on misunderstandings of the culture to be learned, also need to be corrected. In oral speech, correction of this sort would involve helping learners state their particular view, permitting the teacher to add more appropriate knowledge. “Meal time” is an interesting example. Some cultures have a main meal at midday while others might eat in the evening. Learners are quick to judge the “good” and the “bad” of different approaches. Teachers need to be able to modify learners’ judgments with additional information that explains the practice. In like manner, errors in content often appear in learners’ written compositions. Teachers should respond to student writing regarding accuracy of message and interpretation with comments such as: “This was an interesting point about meal time habits. I think if you expand this section where you make a comparison, your point will be clearer. Right now there are too many generalizations. You need some specific examples.” This kind of feedback reminds learners that their teachers are readers and as readers they deserve clear prose that should be as interesting and as accurate as possible.
All learners should be encouraged to keep a journal of important points they should try to remember so as to correct their speech and writing. A classroom chart to which each learner contributes a correction in the new language is also a helpful way of sending the message that learners should focus on accuracy; that everyone makes mistakes; and that everyone should concentrate on fixing repeated mistakes.
Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt
SPEAKING
Students should be given practice speaking in language comprehensible to others.
Research finding
Additional language instruction formerly consisted of students’ memorizing dialogues and practising grammar drills. Current research supports a model known as ‘communicative competence’. Although students must learn the grammar and vocabulary, these alone do not lead to fluency. Since natural language is unpredictable and speakers arrive at meaning through active communication, students must be taught how to manage real
conversation—how to start and end conversations, how to respond appropriately, and how to express their beliefs, opinions and feelings. Students need to learn what is culturally appropriate and how language varies depending on the situations; they may need to learn about people involved, their moods, and other social and cultural factors. A fluent speaker needs to know how to link utterances together to create clear and effective discourse.
Students must also learn how to manage conversations when there are communication breakdowns. These modern views caused changes in the teaching of speaking. Students
should engage in ‘unscripted’ or spontaneous language since that is the nature of usual speaking practices. The teacher’s role is to provide language patterns that are needed, guide students in how to form natural language, and then to create opportunities for practice. Teachers must provide judicious coaching and encouragement so that students will actively practice speaking.
In the classroom
When teaching speaking, the following instructional strategies are recommended:
• Present to students the linguistic and vocabulary patterns and make sure they understand how they are formed, when they are used, and their cultural implications.
Teach students speech acts (to agree/disagree, apologize,make excuses, etc.), forms to manage conversations (openings, interruptions, closings, etc.), and strategies for roundabout speaking when they don’t know a specific word.
• Provide controlled practice so students can feel comfortable with the patterns.
• Have students use the patterns in natural language situations that are relevant to their speaking needs. Pretending they are asking for directions or requesting a hotel room are examples.
• Allow the students to make errors, but also provide feedback on what is successful and unsuccessful.
Teaching additional languages By Elliot L. Judd, Lihua Tan and Herbert J. Walberg
References: Brown & Yule, 1983; Bygate, 1987; McCarthy &
Carter, 1994.
SPEAKING PRACTICE
Provide students with opportunities for practicing specific speaking skills.
Students improve their formal speech when teachers provide insights on how to organize their ideas for presentation. Students can give better speeches when they can organize their presentation in a variety of different ways, including sequentially, chronologically and thematically. They need practice in organizing their speech around problems and solutions, causes and results, and similarities and differences. After deciding about the best means of organization, they can practice speeches with another student or with the whole class.
Teachers can also help students adapt their speeches and informal talks so as to correspond to the intended audience, the information to be communicated, and the circumstances of the occasion at which they will speak. The teachers can illustrate how well-known speakers have adapted their presentations in ways to suit these different circumstances.
Teachers can enable learners to present ideas to individual peers, peer groups and entire classes of students. They can learn to speak on a subject of their own choosing or on teacher assigned topics. Preparing for debates and participating in them help students to see both sides of various issues. Students also benefit from interviewing others and from participation in dramatic presentations.
Students may enjoy speaking about their personal experiences. When given this opportunity, they can benefit from instruction in the elements of good story-telling.
Both teachers and students can provide suggestions for students’ speeches. In constructively criticizing others, learners can learn to apply criteria for good speech and employ tactful social skills. In doing so, they can increase and improve their own speaking skills.
Students can also learn speaking and social skills by suggesting possible improvements to one another’s practice speeches. Positive experiences in speaking can lead to greater skills and confidence in speaking in front of larger groups.
Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt
SPEAKING SKILLS
Teach students to adapt their speech to specific situations.
Learners need to know how speakers differ from one another andhow particular circumstances call for different forms of speech. They can learn how speaking styles affect listeners. Thus, the rate at which they speak, the volume and the precision of pronunciation may differ substantially from one situation to another.
It is useful for students to know that speech should differ in formality, such as when speaking to a judge, a teacher, a parent or a playmate. They may also benefit from learning about the differences among various dialects.
The subjects in the curriculum and examples from the media may provide occasions for different forms of speech. Oral presentations can be derived from poems, stories, newspaper and magazine articles, as well as scientific reports. Dramatic acting and watching skits and plays may provide the richest opportunity to see how character and circumstance affect speech.
Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt
REDUCING SPEAKING FEARS
Provide opportunities to practise speaking before increasingly larger groups.
Children, adolescents and adults sometimes fear the challenge of sustained, formal speaking before large groups. Teachers can help reduce unrealistic fears by pointing out how common they are among people and what to do about them. They can also help to reduce such fears by maintaining a friendly atmosphere in the class and providing opportunities for students to practice alone or with one other student and then before increasingly larger groups. Thus, students can practice speaking in front of their peers who face the same situation.
Students can practise presenting information, answering questions and holding group discussions. Frequent classroom presentations and discussions enable teachers to diagnose and remedy problems.
Students can benefit from learning by setting themselves presentation goals and assessing their own progress. Observing proficient speakers can help students to set such goals. Practising oral presentation in these ways can lessen students’ anxieties while, at the same time, helping them to learn the subject matter of the lesson.
Students are less likely to be fearful and anxious and more likely to do well if they are well prepared. Preparedness can be enhanced by in-depth mastery of the subject matter, appropriate organization and rehearsing the presentation.
Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt
FREQUENT COLLABORATION
Collaboration with classmates fosters communicative competence.
As in adult life, students can share with one another knowledge and ideas that help solve problems. Small groups working together within a class can help students communicate meaningful ideas to each other.
It is sometimes helpful to allow students within a group to conduct individual research, but require the group to make use of all the individually collected elements to write or present a report that depends on each individual’s contribution. In this way, students can simultaneously be taught subject matter, research and presentation skills, and how to work well with others. They may also discover unexpected but valuable connections between various aspects of a topic.
Working together in twos, threes or larger groups can facilitate more frequent and insightful communications. In a class of thirty, for example, a student might be expected to speak only one-thirtieth of the time. In a group of two students, a student might speak for half of the time and listen for half of the time, and both the speaking and the listening can be concentrated on what the students need to know or desire to investigate.
None of this is to say that teachers should play a passive role. Rather, they can explain what is expected and show correct and incorrect examples. With practice, students can correct one another and themselves.
Teaching other Languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt
My propuesta Noviembre 30, 2011 (Raquel)
Please check it!
Carlos
1. What is speaking? (Se debe consultar)
2. Introduction of speaking correction
Everyone makes mistakes, even speakers using their own language when they are hurried, ‘lost for words’, or forced into inappropriate language by a difficult or unusual situation. It is hardly surprising, then, that language learners make mistakes, given the difficulty of the task of comprehending, processing the content of the message and knowledge of the target language, and coming out with a response that is both grammatically correct and appropriate to the situation.
It is generally agreed that correction is part of the teaching/learning process, but that over-correction and poor correction techniques can be demotivating for the learner and may lead to a reluctance to try out new language or even to speak at all. Teachers need to make informed decisions about what, when and how to correct in order to help learners improve their speaking skills without damaging their confidence.
Raquel
3. Mistakes – Errors and slips.
Errors are produced as a result of the lack or misinterpretation of knowledge, which, in turn, may be a product of the learner’s stage of language development, or inadequate teaching or learning. Errors cannot be corrected and need to be dealt with by teaching or reteaching. Errors are often noticed in less-guided practice activities when the same error is made by a number of learners, leading the teacher to realize that something has gone wrong in earlier stages of the teaching/learning process. Mistakes, on the other hand, are products of the learner’s efforts to produce language despite prior knowledge. They may be due a variety of factors including over-enthusiasm, over-generalization of rules, interference from the mother tongue, and once the cause has been established, can be dealt with by a number of correction techniques.
4. Reasons why learners make errors
There are two main reasons why second language learners make errors:
- 1. The first reason is influence from the learner’s first language (L1) on the second language. This is called interference. Learners may use sound patterns, lexis or grammatical structures from their own language in English.
- 2. The second reason why learners make errors is because they are unconsciously working out and organizing language, but this process is not complete. This kind of error is called a developmental error. Learners of whatever mother tongue make these kinds of errors, which are often similar to those made by a young first language speaker as part of their normal language development. Learners wrongly apply a rule for one item of the language to another item, are known as overgeneralization.
Alejandra5. Accuracy and fluency
Mistakes are usually corrected immediately when the aim of the stage of the lesson is to promote accuracy, particularly during the drilling of the target language and during guided practice. Attention to mistakes in these stages improves the chances of correct use of language later, while mistakes made during less-guided practice often indicate that the teacher has not dealt effectively with mistakes at the accuracy stage. When the aim is fluency, however, less intrusive, ‘gentle’ or delayed correction techniques are required in order not to damage either the flow of the activity or the confidence of the learners.
6. Interlanguage
In the process of acquiring the language, a learner may acquire forms of language that are in between their first language and their target language. This is their ‘interlanguage’, and is a product of incorrect application of rules, incomplete knowledge, and comparison between two (or more) languages. Interlanguage may seem completely logical and correct in the mind of the learner and may also be a part of a natural learning process where rules get more refined as more input is received. This leads to the belief that mistakes are a healthy part of language learning and should not be dealt with too severely. However, if learners are not corrected, mistakes in their interlanguage may ‘fossilise’ and become permanent.
Armando
7. Ways of helping learners get beyond their errors.
- To expose students to lots of language that is just beyond their level through reading or listening.
- To give them opportunities to focus on the form of language.
- To provide them with time in class to use language to communicate, interact and see
if they can do successfully.8. Conclusion: Turning a blind eye
In the introduction we noted that while correction was necessary to prevent fossilization, over-correction could be demotivating. This means that teachers need to be selective in correction. Some students may notice that some mistakes are not being corrected. Here’s an activity you can use to explain this.
Record students’ mistakes and write them on the board, which you divide into two. Write on the right side if they are serious, i.e. interfere with communication, and on the left side if they are not. Ask students to help you decide. When finished, tell students that ‘to turn a blind eye’ means to ignore something wrong, and this is usually done where to do something would be worse than to do nothing. The original expression is reputed to come from Admiral Nelson, who ignored a signal to retreat, by ‘looking’ at it with his blind eye, and then won the battle. Like battles, speaking a foreign language is a risky business, and in the interests of encouragement, mistakes are sometimes overlooked. Ask your students to cover their left eyes and concentrate on the mistakes on the right.
TECHNIQUES CORRECT SPOKEN ERRORS
Raquel
a) Body language
The problems with using body language to show errors could also be that it is taken as very serious criticism or that it is too vague. Possibilities include using your hands (rolling a hand from side to side to mean “so-so attempt”; making a circle by moving your index finger to mean “one more time”; or a cross with fingers, open palms or even forearms to show a very clear “no” or “wrong”- probably only suitable for a team game etc where the responsibility is shared), head (tilted to one side to mean “I’m not sure that sounds correct”), or shoulders (hunched to reinforce “I don’t understand what you are saying”). Again, practising this in a teaching workshop can be useful, as can eliciting other body language teachers could have used after an observation.
b) Correction symbols
Some teachers use prompts for correction while speaking. Some well-known examples are:
• Make a ‘T’ with fingers to illustrate missing ‘the’.
• Show a small word missing by holding thumb and forefinger close together.
• Cross hands over to show wrong word order.
To these I would like to add some more prompts, using sounds, gestures and puns:
• Pull ear to show irregular past tense: ‘ear’ sounds the same as the first syllable in ‘irregular’.
• ‘With’ and ‘by’ e.g. with car - teacher waves to signal ‘bye’, which sounds the same as ‘by’.
• Confusion of auxiliary e.g. I aren’t like swimming - sing ‘Do be do be do’ (Strangers in the night - Frank Sinatra).
• Missing ‘ing’ e.g. I am wait for a bus - T says ‘(t)ing’ like a bell ringing.
• Unnecessary ‘to’ e.g. I must to go - draw -2 (minus t(w)o) on the board in the air.
• Where would is used wrongly, e.g. in conditionals, tap on ‘wood’ to show that ‘would’ is wrong.
• Wrong present tense e.g. simple vs. continuous: Use a circling hand motion to prompt continuous, use open arms to show wide, e.g. general time.
• Buzz like a bee to show missing verb ‘be’ e.g. I going.
• Student says For going instead of to go: Hold up four fingers and then cover two of them to show ‘for’ (4) should be ‘to’ (2).
• Make a scissors motion with fingers to cut out unnecessary words .e.g. …which I like it.
• I don’t want no tea - make two minus symbols with your fingers, then cross them to make a plus to show two negatives make a positive in English.
• On/in - make an ‘o’ with your finger/thumb and change it to ‘I’ straight finger, or vice versa (if appropriate to your culture!).
• Adjective used instead of adverb. E.g. He walked slow - make an L shape with your right index finger and thumb. This looks like both ‘l’ and ‘y’, so signifies ‘ly’. Close the thumb and finger to show that the ‘ly’ is unnecessary, i.e. adv. > adj, and open to change adj. > adv.
You could invent own symbols. While students need to learn them, which may take time, it brings humor into the sometimes serious task of correction and avoids the need for words. Once the students have learnt the symbols, there is also potential for peer correction.
Alejandra
c) Facial expression
For example, raise an eyebrow, tilt your head to one side or give a slight frown. Most people will do this naturally, but there is a slight chance a teacher’s expression will be too critical or too subtle for your students to pick up on, and you can (amusingly) practice facial expressions in a teaching workshop by participants communicating certain typical classroom messages (“move over there to work with this person”, “work in pairs” etc.) using just their heads and faces, including feedback on spoken errors in that list.
d) Manual chat
Instead of speaking to each other, students quickly pass pieces of paper back and forward with a written conversation in groups, a bit like chatting on the Internet. This has the advantage of being similar to spoken conversation, but leaving a written record that can be analyzed by students themselves.
Carlos
e) Tell them how many mistakes
This method is only really suitable for controlled speaking practice, but can be a very simple way of giving feedback in that situation. Examples include “Most of the comparatives were right, but you made two mistakes” and “Three words are in the wrong position in the sentence/ are mixed up”. Make sure you only use this method when students can remember what you are referring to without too much prompting.
Other useful language:
“Very good, but you made just one mistake with the passive”
(For a tongue twister) “Good attempt/ Getting better, but in two places you said /sh/ where it should have been /s/. Can you guess which words?”
f) Two speaking, one secretary
Getting students to focus on each other’s mistakes can be useful, if done tactfully and the reasons explained (it is sometimes easier to see other people’s mistakes other than your own.) While two students speak, a third makes notes of anything that he or she thinks may be wrong. Afterwards the three students can discuss it.
Armando
g) Just tell them they are wrong (but nicely)
Positive ways of being negative include “nearly there”, “getting closer”, “just one mistake”, “much better”, “good idea, but…”,”I understand what you mean but…”, “you have made a mistake that almost everyone does/ that’s a very common mistake”, “we haven’t studied this yet, but…” and “much better pronunciation, but…” With lower level and new classes, you might have to balance the need to be nice with the need to be clear and not confuse them with feedback language that they don’t understand, perhaps by sticking to one or two phrases to give feedback for the first couple of months. It can also be useful to give them translations of this and other classroom language you will use, for example on a worksheet or a poster.
h) Encourage participants to keep an error correction notebook.
This notebook contains error entries, corrections made, and explanation or background knowledge underlying the correction. This will help both teachers and participants to monitor their errors and review the corrections made. The relevance of the error correction notebook will depend on how the teacher will use this notebook. The teacher, for example, could check the notebook once in a while or give additional speaking exercises in relation to the errors made. This activity will give learners the opportunity to reflect on their errors and hopefully avoid or lessen them.
Sugiero solo enlistar estos otros ejercicios o si creen pertinente explicar alguno de éstos además de los mencionados arriba, háganlo o cámbienlos.
Point at the correct language
If you have something on the correct form easily accessible on the whiteboard, in the textbook or on a poster, just pointing at it can be a subtle but clear way of prompting students to use the correct language. What you point at could be the name of the tense or word form they are supposed to be using, a verb forms table or the actual correct verb form, a grammatical explanation, or another grammatical hint such as “future”, “prediction” or “polite”.
Useful language:
“Have a look at your books/ the board”
“The correct version is somewhere in this chart/ poster/ table”
“You copied this down earlier. Have a look in your notebooks”
Repeat what they said
This can mean repeating the whole sentence, one section of it including the wrong part, the sentence up to the wrong part, the sentence with the wrong part missed out (with maybe a humming noise to show the gap that should be filled) or just the wrong part. You can illustrate that you are showing them an error and give some hint as to which bit is wrong by using a questioning tone (for everything you say or just for the wrong part). This method is overused by some teachers and can sound patronizing if used too often or with the wrong tone of voice, so try to mix up the different versions of it described here and to alternate with methods described in the other tips.
Useful language:
“The man GOED to the shops?”
“The man GOED?”
“GOED?”
Correction table
Draw a table on the board. While students are talking, point to the type of mistake, giving students a chance to self-correct. You could ask for volunteers to speak, e.g. a pair. Afterwards students could try it in groups, with two speaking and one listening and pointing. A table could look like this:
Choose a confident student who will not mind having mistakes corrected. Explain that you are going to correct him as he speaks, and that the purpose behind this is not to humiliate, but to help. The student should speak, e.g. tell a story about himself. You repeat each sentence. If there are mistakes, you repeat the sentence correctly and the rest of the class does the same after you. The rationale is 1) students get to hear how they should sound, 2) the rest of the class is involved, and they listen to the original and the teacher’s improvement. 3) By using intonation to show interest, approval, disapproval, and surprise in a light-hearted way, which can be echoed by the class, you focus on meaning as well as form. Example:
• S1: I stood up late.
• T: Oh you got up late! (disapproving)
• SS: You got up late! (disapproving)
• S1: I got up late, then I eat big breakfast.
• T: You had a big breakfast. (amused)
• SS: You had a big breakfast. (amused) etc.
• S1: Yes, I had a big breakfast then I went at the park.
Collect the errors for later
You can then correct them later in the same class (with a game like a grammar auction or just eliciting corrections from the class) or in a future class (for example writing error dictation pairwork worksheets or using the same techniques as can be used in the same class). Make sure you give positive reinforcement as well, e.g. “Someone said this sentence, and that is really good.”
Useful language:
“Here are some things that people said in the last activity”
“I heard several people say this one.
“Can anyone correct this sentence? It has one missing word/ one word missing/ You need to add one word”
“The words are in the wrong order/ You need to change the words around/ change the word order/ mix the words up”
“This is a typical mistake for students from…”
“Don’t worry, even native speakers make this mistake sometimes/ every nationality makes this mistake”
“This mistake is something we studied last week”
Just say the right version
The students can then repeat the correct version or tell you what the difference between the two sentences was and why their version was wrong. Because the students don’t do much of the work in this way of being corrected, it might not be as good a way of remembering the correction as methods where you give more subtle clues. Its advantages are that it is quick and suits cultures, classes and students that think of elicitation as shirking by the teacher. It can also be more face-saving than asking them for self-correction, as trying to correct themselves risks making even more mistakes. The “right version” could mean the whole sentence or just the correction of the part that was wrong. In the latter case, you can then ask them to put it into the sentence in the right place and repeat the whole thing.
Useful language:
“I understand what you are saying, but you need to say…”
“We studied this last week. “Hardly” has a different meaning to “hard”, so you need to say…?”
“The past of say is pronounced /sed/. So your sentence should be…?”
Use grammatical terminology to identify the mistake
For example, “(You used) the wrong tense”, “Not the Present Perfect”, “You need an adverb, not an adjective” or “Can change that into the passive/ indirect speech?” This method is perhaps overused, and you need to be sure that the grammatical terminology isn’t just going to confuse them more.
Other useful language:
“Because that is the present simple, you need to add the auxiliary (verb) ‘do’”
“Say the same sentence, but with the comparative form”
Give the rule
For example, “‘Since’ usually takes the Present Perfect” or “One syllable adjectives make the comparative with –er, not more + adjective” This works best if they already know the rule, and you at least need to make sure that they will quickly understand what you are saying, for example by only using grammatical terminology you have used with them several times before.
“You got all the articles right this time, so I’ll give you 9 out of 10”
Ask partners to spot errors
This is a fairly well-known way of giving feedback in speaking tasks, but it can be a minefield if the person giving feedback has no confidence in their ability to do so or in how well the feedback (i.e. criticism) will be taken, and even more so if the person receiving the feedback will in fact react badly. This method is easier to do and easier to take when they have been told specifically which language to use while speaking and so to look out for when listening, usually meaning controlled speaking practice tasks. The feedback can be made even simpler to give and collect and more neutral with some careful planning, e.g. asking them count how many times their partner uses the target form as well as or instead of looking for when it used incorrectly.
Try again!
Sometimes, students don’t need much help at all but just a chance to do it again. This is likely to be true if you have trained them well in spotting their own errors, if there was some other kind of mental load such as a puzzle to solve that was distracting them from the language, or if they have had a chance to hear someone else doing the same speaking task in the class or on a recording.
Useful language:
“One more time (but think about the grammar more this time/ but concentrating on making less mistakes instead of speaking quickly)”
“Give it another go”
“Do you want one more chance before you get the final score”
Written correction exercises
Written correction exercises can raise awareness of errors made in speaking, and can be chosen to reflect students’ common mistakes.
Launch an initial investigation into the participants’ learning profile.
A quick survey, for example an introductory session before beginning the class or questionnaires, will help both teachers and participants to negotiate and determine the most suitable method to deal with the participants’ errors. This will also give the participants the opportunity to see for themselves if they could cope with the selected correction method. The most important thing here is to make the learners comfortable with the error correction method used in class.
Give positive feedback and acknowledge learners’ progress in L2 speaking.
These acts can touch boost participants’ confidence. A teacher’s response of ‘That’s wrong!’ will make them focus on the errors and not the revision. On the other hand, constructive comments like ‘Do you mean?’ and sincere compliments such as ‘That is interesting’ or ‘What a clear explanation’ will add participants’ willingness to improve. In short, if teachers can highlight participants’ progress, they can neutralize the negative emotions created by the corrections on fluency, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary.
Sources Por favor incluyan los enlaces o la bibliografía
http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/methodology/classroom-management/classroom-management-speaking-correction-techniques/146455.article
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znswuO4goYg
http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/speak/correcting-spoken-errors/
Alex Case is TEFL.net Reviews Editor and author of the popular blog TEFLtastic.
Handout and power point (Raquel)
Handout (Raquel)
Task 1. Talk to your partner about the differences between errors and mistakes and make notes.
Errors:
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Mistakes (slips)
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Task 2. Complete these sentences about reasons why learners make errors.