Teach English in Zonghe Baoshuiqu [Zonghe Free Trade Zone] - Tianjin

Correction techniquesIt is not an uncommon scenario in a classroom that a student being asked a question does not attempt answers or gives up very easily or that a student will check every single stage of his/her work with the teacher. That is a very clear signal of students? lack of confidence. The reasons for intact confidence may vary, but the off-putting effect of it on language learning is transparent. There is a very practical implication for language teachers here. We can make many efforts to help build up students? confidence, and one of it is our practice of treating mistakes. In other words, the way we treat mistakes is going to be very important. In some language classes, we see teachers jumping into a student?s speech and correcting every single mistake of pronunciation and grammar. Of course, this careful and constant correction happens with the best of intentions. Teachers want students to get things right. It is, however, disruptive and undermining to confidence building and to language learning. If we have to get everything right we will never try anything. Moreover, real communication is not like that. For example we can still understand someone even if they have an accent. We can still find some ungrammatical things in native speakers? speeches. But that doesn?t hinder understanding and communicating. There is no need to demand one hundred percent accuracy. This is not to deny the value of correction. Mistakes can be corrected and needed to be corrected, but the way we correct mistakes requires techniques. 1. When should the teacher correct? There are times in lessons when the teacher is concentrating on accuracy, and there are other times in lessons when the teacher will be trying to encourage fluency. Correction is vital in the first and potentially destructive in the second. For example, for activities in the Study stage, correction is more important than for activities in the Activate stage. However, it should be noted here that this doesn?t mean we will correct every mistake in the Study stage and never correct any mistake in the Activated stage. Here are some occasions when it is relevant to correct: the mistake is with the language point we are teaching; the mistake is being repeated regularly; and the mistake seriously impedes understanding. 2. What should the teacher correct? It can be difficult to know exactly what mistakes to correct. Yet generally speaking, there are two types of mistakes. Some mistakes are just a slip of the tongue or the pen. The student knows the correct form and is able to correct the mistakes by himself or herself, either unprompted or with the help of the teacher or other students. Other mistakes seem to be more deeply ingrained. Maybe the student doesn?t realize what he/she is saying is not correct. Maybe the student doesn?t know the correct form. Or maybe he/she knows the correct form but can?t get it right. Whatever the reason, when this type of mistakes is being repeated, there are risks that the student will never learn the correct language. It is the second type of mistakes ? sometimes called ?errors? ? that the teacher should correct. 3. How should the teacher correct? When one of the above-mentioned errors is made, the teacher can indicated that something needs correcting either by repeating it to the student with a questioning tone, or by saying ?again please?, or by putting it up on the board. It is always recommended that the teacher first resorts to self-correction. That means the teacher should give the student who made the mistake the first chance to reflect on what he/she has said and to try again. If the student is unable to correct him/herself, the teacher can invite other students to correct the mistake. But do be sensitive not to make the student in question feel uncomfortable. By identifying and correcting the mistakes themselves, the students are more likely to remember them and avoid repeating them in the future. When the first two options don?t seem to work, the teacher can show the correct form. This should be the last resort and it also gives the teacher a chance to see what needs focusing on in future lessons. Experimenting with the language is part of the process of mastering it fully. Without mistakes we could not learn anything. As a teacher, the way we treat mistakes is significant. Correction demands techniques. It takes time and experience to perfect.