learner's errors

[Cristina]

2. I try not to interrupt the students when they are talking and when the oral activity is over, we comment on basic mistakes they have made and correct them on the board together. Sometimes I also note some of the mistakes from their writings and pass them a handout with them, which they try to correct in pairs.

5.I don’t think it’s a new idea, but it works. Sometimes I don’t correct the mistakes the students make in their writings. When I hand these out, I have only pointed at the type of mistake they’ve made and they have to self-correct their own writings ( or with the help of a classmate or my hints..). The writings are not marked until they give them back to me with the corrections done. The most recurrent mistakes are often corrected with the whole group, the following class.

[Admin]

Thanks for your comments Cristina. Yes, there are many correction techniques one can use, and it's a good thing to vary them, and not always do the sam thing. But feedback is essential for learning a language: we need input, output and feedback, both positive and negative. Students need clear and unambiguous signals when they get something wrong, if they are to advance. Sometimes teachers feel that they might demotivate students if they correct them. I think the opposite is the case, but obviously how teachers do this is important, it needs to be encouraging and constructive!