Unit 5. Exploiting learners' mistakes
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:13 pm2. Which of the ideas in exercise 5 have you tried yourself?
I always collect the most common errors, the worst ones and some funny ones (for instance, the automatic translators mistakes) and I give the students a worksheet with all them. Then, they are supposed to try to a) identify the mistake, b) if it is possible, correct it. I always encourage them by saying that if they can see the mistake, it means they understand, and that they are half-way. The problem is that sometimos, unless I highlight the mistake (in bold, underlining it…) they tend to see more mistakes than there are!
With the compositions, what I do is that I correct their compositions but I only point them the mistakes using a code (GR for grammar mistakes, WO for word order…). From there, the students have a starting point where to start to try to find out where is the mistake.
3. Do you believe it is important not to interrupt students when they are speaking in order to draw attention to their errors?
I try not to interrupt them too much, but I think it is important (also for the sake of the other students) that very common or serious mistakes are corrected the moment they are made, and that the student repeats the sentence, to make sure they hear the “correct” version.
I always collect the most common errors, the worst ones and some funny ones (for instance, the automatic translators mistakes) and I give the students a worksheet with all them. Then, they are supposed to try to a) identify the mistake, b) if it is possible, correct it. I always encourage them by saying that if they can see the mistake, it means they understand, and that they are half-way. The problem is that sometimos, unless I highlight the mistake (in bold, underlining it…) they tend to see more mistakes than there are!
With the compositions, what I do is that I correct their compositions but I only point them the mistakes using a code (GR for grammar mistakes, WO for word order…). From there, the students have a starting point where to start to try to find out where is the mistake.
3. Do you believe it is important not to interrupt students when they are speaking in order to draw attention to their errors?
I try not to interrupt them too much, but I think it is important (also for the sake of the other students) that very common or serious mistakes are corrected the moment they are made, and that the student repeats the sentence, to make sure they hear the “correct” version.