Chapter 6

Students listen to an audio track to see if they have got the order right. They then listen
again and work on aspects of stress and intonation in particular phrases. If appropriate,
the teacher can ask them to repeat these phrases in the same way. Working in pairs, they
then identify which phrases (a) expressed a complaint, (b) expressed regret and apology,
(c) gave details of the complaint, (d) suggested ways of dealing with the complaint and (e)
expressed appreciation. They are now asked to come up with any other phrases or restaurant
complaints they can think of for categories a-e. The teacher can feed in more examples,
too. Finally, in pairs, students make their own dialogues while the teacher goes round the
room helping them and offering advice. The pairs then perform their dialogues for the rest
of the class and the teacher and students discuss the good points of the dialogues they hear,
while at the same time correcting any serious mistakes that have crept in.

Mistakes, slips, errors and attempts

In language study phases such as those described in this chapter, students will not always
use correct English. They will make mistakes, too, when writing or speaking more freely (as
we shall see in Chapters 8 and 9).
We can divide mistakes into three categories. Slips are mistakes which students can
correct themselves, once the mistake has been pointed out to them. Errors are mistakes
which they can’t correct themselves - and which, therefore, need explanation. Attempts
are mistakes that students make when they try to say something but do not yet know how
to say it. The way we give feedback and correct such mistakes will be heavily influenced by
which type we think the students are making.
There are many reasons why students m ight make mistakes, whichever kind of
mistakes they are. Perhaps - especially in a study session - they haven’t quite grasped the
new information and so continue to make errors. Perhaps their own language gets in the
way because the way English expresses an idea or uses a grammatical construction is either
very different or tantalisingly similar to how it is done in their first language. As a result
they m ight make a slip, produce a deeply ingrained error, or just rely on their first language
when making an attempt. Japanese students frequently have trouble with article usage,
for example; Germans have to get used to positioning the verb correctly; Turkish students
have to deal with different sentence structure, while Arab students have to deal with a
completely different written system. False friends (words that sound the same but have
different meanings) can also cause trouble, especially for speakers of Romance languages
which share a comm on heritage with English.
Another ‘problem ’ category is often described as developmental errors. These occur
naturally as the students’ language knowledge develops, and are the result of the students
making apparently sensible (but mistaken) assumptions about the way language works.
Suppose, for example, that a student, has learnt to say things like ‘I have to go’, ‘I want to
go’ or ‘I would like to go’. That m ight lead them on to say - with perfectly appropriate logic
- things like ‘*1 must to go’, not realising that the use o f ‘to’ is not perm itted with ‘m ust’.
Whatever the reason for the students ‘getting it wrong’, it is vital for the teacher to realise
that all students make mistakes as a natural part of the process of learning. By working out
when and why things have gone wrong, students learn more about the language they are
studying.

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Correcting students
When students are involved in a speaking activity such as a role-play or conversation (see
Chapter 9), instant and intrusive correction is often not appropriate since it can interfere
with the flow of the activity and inhibit students just at the m om ent when they should
be trying hardest to activate their language knowledge. But during study sessions, we will
probably use correction more as it helps to clarify the language in the students’ minds.
Because correction involves pointing out people’s mistakes, we have to tread carefully.
If we do it in an insensitive way, we can upset our students and dent their confidence.
Moreover, what is appropriate for one student may be quite wrong for another.
In general, the teacher’s job is to point out when something has gone wrong - and see if
the students can correct themselves. Maybe what they said or wrote was just a slip and they
are able to put it right straightaway.
Sometimes, however, students can’t put mistakes right on their own (because they fall
into the categories o f errors or attempts), so we have to help them. We can do this by
asking if one of their peers (fellow students) can help out, or by explaining the problem
ourselves.
If we get other students in the class to help out, we have to make sure that the student
who made the mistake in the first place isn’t going to be hum iliated by this (‘How come
they all know the answer? I m ust be stupid!’). Sometimes, students prefer correction
directly from the teacher. On the other hand, in the right kind of atmosphere students
enjoy helping each other - and being helped in return.
The following example shows students being corrected during a practice phase in
which they are making sentences using the comparative form of adjectives (comparing
trains and planes).
MONICA: Trains are safer planes.
t eac h er : Safer planes? (with surprised questioning intonation)
MONICA: Oh ... Trains are safer than planes.
t eac h er : Good, Monica. Now, ‘com fortable’ ... Sim on?
s im o n : Trains more comfortable. Planes are.
t eac h er : Hmm. Can you help Sim on, Bruno?
br u n o : E r ... Trains are more com fortable than planes.
t eac h er : Thank you. Sim on?
s im o n : Trains are more comfortable than planes.
t eac h er : That’s right, Sim on. Great. What about ‘fast’, Matilde?
m a t il d e : Trains faster planes.
t eac h er : Trains are faster?
m a t il d e : Trains faster planes? 1 don’t know.
t eac h er : OK. Look. Trains go at a hundred m iles an hour, planes go at
500 m iles an hour, so planes are faster than trains. Yes?
m a t il d e : Planes are faster than trains.
t eac h er : Well done, Matilde.

With Monica, all the teacher had to do was point out that something was wrong (by echoing
what she said with a questioning intonation) and she immediately corrected herself. Simon
was not able to do this, however, so the teacher got Bruno to help him. W hen Matilde made
a mistake, however (and was not able to correct herself), the teacher judged that she would
be unhappy to have correction from her peers so she helped her out herself.

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When organising practice, then, teachers need to listen out for mistakes, identify the
problem and put it right in the most efficient and tactful way.
Before leaving the subject of errors, it is worth rem embering that correction is just one
response that teachers can make to student language production. It is just as im portant
- perhaps more so - to praise students for their success, as it is to correct them as they
struggle towards accuracy. Teachers can show through the use of expression, encouraging
words and noises (‘good’, ‘well done’, ‘fantastic’, ‘m m m ’, etc) that students are doing really
well. But praise should not be overused because when it is, it becomes devalued, and
therefore meaningless. Praise is only effective if students know what they are being praised
for - and when they themselves believe it is merited.

Conclusions | In this chapter we have:

said that repetition and controlled practice are part of many study sequences.
made a distinction between deductive approaches (‘explain and practise’) and
inductive approaches (‘discovery’ activities), where students find things out for
themselves.
detailed various ways of explaining meaning - including mime, gesture, listing,
translation, using pictures, etc.
looked at various ways of organising controlled practice, including cue-response drills
and choral and individual repetition.
discussed freer practice, where students use ‘new’ language in a more creative way.
detailed lesson sequences for teaching grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and
functions. In each case we have shown ‘explain and practise’ sequences as well as
more ‘discovery’ focused examples.
identified slips, errors and attempts as three different kinds of student mistake, and
discussed why students make such mistakes.
looked at different ways of correcting students, such as echoing, reformulation, using
a student’s peers, etc. We have stressed that we need to be especially sensitive about
how we correct.
ended by saying that praise (when it is merited) is also an important part of teacher
feedback.
9 Error correction

Olga:

~rrors need to be avoided at all Errors are a natural part of the

costs. I don't want my learners learning process - and as teaching
to pick up bad habits. material they're really useful.

I feel bad correcting my

students' errors - it's
judgemental and de-motivating.

2 Think back to your own language learning experience. Did you like it when the teacher corrected your
errors? Why? / why not? Compare experiences with a partner.

Types of error
1 Find the errors in sentences 1-6 and match them with the classifications (a-f). Then compareyour
answers with a partner.

Errors Classification
1 'She likes her job. She works for the same a problem with word stress
company for years.'

2 (In a restaurant) 'Bring me the menu!' b problem with intonation

3 'My brotherfell off his bike but he wasn't c problem with word order
badly damaged.'
~
4 'It's a lovely day, isn't it?' d problem with choice ofword(s) - vocabulary

5 'This sofa is very comFORTable.' e ·problem with register

6 'Where is standing the teacher?' f problem with the choice of verb form

2 Recall some of the errors that your learners have made in teaching practice. Do their errors fit one of the
types above, or are they different?
~ When to correct
Read the lesson transcripts. What should the teacher do about the learners' errors? Choose the best
answerfor each lesson. Then compare ideas with a partner.
a The teacher should not correct the error.
b The teacher should delay correction - and provide feedback at the end of the activity.
c The teacher should correct the error immediately.

Lesson 1
The students are working in different groups. The teacher is walkingaround the class, monitoring, and
hears these utterances from speakers inthe different groups.
51: Technologyis such important for allof us.
52: Inmy country,everyone uses computers ...
53: Yeah,Iam agree with Anja
54: Iprefer to text friends than email them.

Lesson 2
T: And what's your job, Freddie?
5: Iwork in hotel. Myjob is to make the guests.
Lesson 3 ~I

T: We have a new student today.Vera,can you introduce yourself?

5: Iam coming from Moscow. Iam absolutely happy to join this class.
Lesson 4
The students have just listened to a recorded interview.
T: OK- what instrument does he play?
5: He is play saxophone.

rn Correction strategies
1 Work in pairs. Compare the ways that different teachers responded to the same error. Explain their
strategies.
S: We go to the beach yesterday.
a II: Yesterday - so, grammar?
b T2: Yesterday, you ....
c T3: Not quite, look: We go to the beach yesterday. [Holds up hand and indicates second
finger from left from the learners' point of view.]
d T4: Sorry, do you mean you go every day? •
e T5: You went to the beach - that's nice. Who did you go with?
f T6: makes no comment; the activity continues until, at the end, the teacher says, 'I heard
someone say, "We go to the beach yesterday." Can anyone correct that?'
2 Think about lessons you have observed. Did the teacher use any of the strategies in Dl? Ifso, were they
effective?
 Correction strategy Advantages Disadvantages
a Teacher prompts using Easyto use. Learners need to be familiar
terminology, e.g. grammar, Indicates the type of error that with the terminology used.
tense, pronunciation, etc. the learner should be looking
for.
b Teacher repeats the
utterance to the point of the
error. e.g. Yesterday you ...
c Finger correction (Teacher
uses fingers to indicate the
position of the error.)
d Teacher asks a question,
e.g. Do you mean you go
everyday?
e Reformulation,
e.g. You went to the beach.

...,.
f Delayed correction

1 Readout the error on the card you are given and respond to what your trainer does or says. Payattention
to how the trainer corrects the error.

Error How was it corrected?

Can you borrow me some money?
Do you can juggle?
Bring me the menu! ,
"
Where is going Felipe?
Her father is a PROfessor.
My brotherfell off his bike but he wasn't badly .
damaged.