Unit 32 - Correcting learners

How do we correct learners?

We correct learners sometimes when they have made a mistake and we want to show them that something is wrong. There is a range of correction strategies and techniques we can use to indicate (show) that there is a mistake, and the ones we choose depend on a number of different factors, for example the aim of the activity, the age of the learners and the language level of the learners.

Time lines	Draw a time line to show learners the relationship between the use of the verb tense and the time or aspect.
Finger correction	Show one hand to the class and point to each finger in turn as we say each word in the utterance.
Gestures and/or facial expressions	Are useful when we do not want to interrupt learners, but still want to show them that they have made a slip.
Phonemic symbols	Use them to focus on mispronounced sounds by pointing at the relevant symbols on the phonemic chart.
Echo correcting	Repeating what a learner says with rising intonation.
Identifying	Identify the mistake by focusing learners’ attention on it and telling them that there is a problem.
Delayed correction	Sometimes it is the best not to indicate or correct mistakes at the time they are made.
Peer and self-correction	Peer correction involves learners correcting each other’s mistakes. Self-correction is when learners correct their own mistakes.
Ignoring errors	We ignore errors that are above the learners’ language level.
Reformulating	Correct the mistakes by repeating the utterance correctly.
Recasting	Sometimes we recast a student utterance by rewording it and saying it back to the learner in its improved form.
Giving the rule and an example definition	It can help learners if we provide the grammar rule and then give or elicit.

Reference:

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2012). The TKT Teaching Knowledge Test Course Modules 1,2 and 3 (Vol. Second edition). United Kingdom: Cambridge English.