2.2 Correcting errors in oral speech

There are several reasons why it is important to correct oral mistakes.

Firstly, correction allows the pupil to realize how much they have improved in their management of the foreign language.

Secondly, when a pupil gets corrected he can grasp a better understanding of how the foreign language works. Furthermore, pupils’ confidence is strengthened by corrections because they know that they can rely on the teacher to check whether something they want to express is right or not. When to correct, will depend on the type of activity that is being developed. For instance, if an accuracy work is being carried, it is commonly advised to perform the correction immediately so that the student is able to apply it at the moment. In contrast, when the task focus is on fluency, it is pertaining to delay the correction, in order to avoid distracting the learner from his communicating efforts.

On activities, where the stress is improving accuracy, a strategy that can be used is reformulation, consists on the teacher repeating a modified version of the sentence the pupils has just said. For example, if the pupil says: “I go to Cusco last year”. The teacher can say, “So, you went to Cusco last year”, stressing the word “went” and waiting for the pupil to realize what the error was.

Another strategy to correct accuracy during an oral activity is to use echoing. For instance, a pupil says: “I listen to music in my free times”. The teacher repeats “in your free times?” with an interrogative intonation and stressing the word “times”. Then, the teacher waits for the pupil to self correct and if that does not happen, ask classmates to help the pupil.

Finally, in the case of fluency activities, a way for the teacher to correct errors is to listen carefully to the dialogues of the pupils and take notes of the errors present. Following, the teacher can write on the whiteboard a collection of sentences with errors –without identifying the authors of them- and then ask pupils to work in groups or pairs to find where the errors are. After giving them some time, the teacher can check the sentences and explain the ones that remain unresolved with the whole class.

On the whole, the feedback is given on oral work through speech, on written work through writing; and although there are occasional situations where one might do it the other way round (for example, discuss an essay with a student in a one-to-one tutorial, or write a letter providing feedback on speech). These are very much the exceptions and will not be dealt with in this unit and the next. There are some situations, where one might prefer not to correct a learner's mistake: in fluency work, for example, when the learner is in mid-speech, and to correct would disturb and discourage more than help. But there are other situations when correction is likely to be helpful. [12; 74]

The recommendation not to correct a learner during fluent speech is in principle a valid one, but perhaps an over-simplification. There can be places where to refrain from providing an acceptable form where the speaker is obviously uneasy or 'floundering' can actually be demoralizing, and gentle, supportive intervention can help.

In opposition, even where the emphasis is on getting the language right, one may not always correct: in a grammar exercise, for example, if the learner has contributed an interesting or personal piece of information that does not happen to use the target form; also, when they have got most of an item right one may prefer not to draw attention to a relatively trivial mistake. It is necessary to keep all these facts in mind when conducting an error analysis and reaching conclusions on which one would base all our teaching.

Oral corrections are usually provided directly by the teacher; but they may also be elicited from the learner, who made the mistake in the first place, or by another member of the class. Corrections may or may not include a clarification of why the mistake was made, and may or may not require re-production of the acceptable form by the learner. Error correction is categorized according to the items:

1. Explicit correction: Clearly indicating that the pupil's utterance was incorrect, the teacher provides the correct form.

S: there is a little milk in fridge.

T: + in the fridge

2. Recast: The teacher implicitly reformulates the pupil's error, or provides the correction without directly pointing out that the student's utterance was incorrect.

S: he like pop-music.

T: yes, he likes pop-music

3. Clarification request: The teacher indicates that the message has not been understood or that the pupil's utterance included some kind of mistake and that a repetition or a reformulation is needed by using phrases like "Excuse me?".

S: there aren’t many /hotels/ in this town.

T: again?

4. Metalinguistic clues: The teacher poses questions like “Do we say it like that?” or provides comments or information related to the formation of the pupil's utterance without providing the correct form.

S: there isn’t any books.

T: + there isn’t grimace uncountable

Ds: there isn’t any money

5. Elicitation: The teacher directly elicits the correct form from the pupil by asking questions (e.g., "How do I ask somebody to clean the board?"), by pausing to allow the pupil to complete the teacher's utterance (e.g., "He is a good…") or by asking pupils to reformulate the utterance (e.g., "Can you say that again?").

S: there are a few books in my /library/

T: in my…?

6. Repetition: The teacher repeats the pupil's error and changes intonation to draw pupil's attention to it.

S: How much money do you have in your /pocket/?

T: /pocket/?

DS: /pocket/

T: yes

Oral correction poses overwhelming problems for teachers and for pupils; research evidence suggests that it is not effective; and no good reasons have been offered for continuing the practice. The natural conclusion is that oral grammar correction should be abandoned.

The issues involved in correction of errors in pragmatics or pronunciation, for example, differ in some respects from those which have been considered here, so the conclusion should not be casually extended to those areas. Most importantly, this paper is not a rejection of teachers' efforts to negotiate meaning or content in interactions with learners. In the negotiation process, some incidental feedback on grammar is almost inevitable. For example, when a pupil describes an event using verb forms that create confusion about the time of the event, the teacher may well seek clarification. It would be perverse to suggest that teachers should avoid this sort of negotiation. The point is that the goal should be simply to achieve successful communication, not to make pupils' utterances grammatical, or to tell them how to do so.

Finally, the rejection of grammar correction requires some caution. As noted above, the possibility remains that future research will find certain correction techniques effective with certain types of pupils and certain types of errors in certain contexts. But until such benefits have been demonstrated and have been shown to outweigh the problems caused by correction, teachers should not feel that they must, or even should, correct their pupils' oral grammar errors. Correction-free instruction is not only a viable alternative; given what is now known about the subject, it is the preferred option. [11; 67]

Oral grammar correction is an extremely complex process, as can be seen. It is not surprising, then, that teachers who wish to provide effective grammar correction face enormous problems. Some of the difficulties are at least partly manageable, at least for a skilled teacher who is very serious about dealing with them. Classroom studies indicate, however, that teachers are generally not very successful in their attempts to provide high-quality oral corrections.

To reduce the problems, teachers might use delayed correction, recording pupils' speech or taking notes during class and then presenting them to students outside of normal class activities. One drawback of this approach is that it removes the error from its context, thereby reducing the relevance of the correction. More importantly, it makes the process very similar to written correction, the ineffectiveness of which has been reasonably well established. [16; 78]

It has been assumed in this discussion that corrections are made by the teacher. If the popular alternative of peer correction is used, most of the problems are unaffected. Peer correction moves pupils' attention further away from communicative activities, as well as producing corrections of lower quality.

The problem of tailoring corrections to the cognitive needs of individual pupils is simply beyond the ability of even the best and most dedicated teacher. The other problems, even if managed effectively, place a tremendous burden on the teacher, if taken seriously. One might ask why a busy teacher should devote so much time and effort to mastering the use of a technique that has so little prospect of success. The time and effort would be better spent on other aspects of teaching.

The problems faced by pupils in dealing with teachers' corrections are no less serious than those faced by teachers in providing good correction in discussing these problems. The certain types have already discussed from the teacher's perspective, such as the danger that correction will inhibit pupils' following efforts at communicating self- correction.

The first problem for pupils is to notice the correction and to recognize it as such. This aspect cannot be taken for granted. Pupils involved in an oral activity have other things on their minds, including the ideas they want to express, ways of expressing them, the things other pupils have said, and the way those pupils are reacting now. They may not hear the teacher clearly, possibly because of other sound in or near the room. They may hear but not understand well enough to know they have been corrected. If the teacher does not explicitly label a correction as such, they may mistake it for something else, as described above. Accompanying this problem is that of pupils taking the teacher's comment as a correction when it was intended for another purpose.

Recognizing the correction is only one of several requirements for the learner. In order for a correction to be effective, each of these requirements must be met, along with all those related to teachers. In this context, even a fairly low percentage of recognition failures would be a serious problem. Classroom research suggests that the percentage is actually very high.

The pupil who has identified a correction must then pay attention to it, trying to understand it. This task may have to compete with others for that attention. The pupil may want to say something else immediately, or to listen to another pupil's comment, or to think about the topic of the discussion or about other aspects of the language forms being used. Nervousness or embarrassment may get in the way. The corrected point may be considered too difficult or too unimportant to bother with. Or the pupil may simply be unwilling to make the necessary effort.

In order for pupils to benefit from correction, they must be very serious in dealing with the corrections they receive. Research on writing classes indicates that most pupils are not so serious despite the fact that they think teachers should correct them. The problems in treating corrections seriously are in fact much greater in the oral context. In the midst of ongoing class activities, pupils will be much less able to maintain a focus on the correction, to give it the thought that may well be required if they are to understand it and remember it. The presence of other pupils observing the correction and the pupil's reaction to it also creates anxiety, causing further distraction. [14; 501-505]

"She scream, he scream, and then I scream!" Omission of the third-person singular "s" is an error that drives all ESL/EFL teachers unusual, along with all those other "little" errors we see commit­ted repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, whether we teach in Asia, Africa, the Americas or on another: continent. What is the best way to correct pupils' errors? The answers are as varied as teaching styles and teachers' personalities. Each of us must find, experiment with, and then choose the methods that work best for our pupils. The following are a few sugges­tions.

Sign language. Develop a signal with your pupils, that tells them to stop, reflect on the error made, and self-correct before continuing with their speaking. Karin B. Larsen, an ESL/Spanish teacher in Copenhagen, sug­gests to simply raise an index finger silently in the air, as if about to interrupt or make a point. This method may be par­ticularly appropriate for the omission of the third-person singular "s."

Speaking. Eavesdropping. While pupils are working in groups or pairs, circulate and note mistakes heard (write as much context as possible). Then at the end of that class or any other time, write the sentences on the board to be corrected as a class discussion.

Varia­tion 1: Have the pupils correct the mis­takes in small groups and compare their answers with other small groups.

Varia­tion 2: Have each small group work on two or three sentences, and then present and explain their corrections to the class.

Variation 3: Make a worksheet from the mistakes to be used in any of the above ways or given as homework.

In this exercise, the teacher transforms herself or himself from the understanding EFL teacher to the typical person on the street with whom the pupils will be re­quired to communicate, as if using their English outside the classroom. The teacher should ask a lot of questions like, "What? I didn't understand what you meant" or, "I'm sorry, I can't understand what you're saying." Also, ask other pupils, "Do you understand what she or he said?" The idea is to copy a native speaker's possible answer or misunderstanding to show the pupils what is really impor­tant to express clearly (e.g., tenses).

Fishbowl. One part of the class is grouped into the center of the room for a discussion while the remaining pupils sit around them and listen silently to the discussion, noting any mistakes they hear. After 10 or 15 minutes, the listeners put a summary of the mistakes on the board for class cor­rection. Then switch roles and repeat so ail the pupils get to perform both tasks. The discussion group shouldn't have more than five or six pupils.

Variation 1: If a hand-held recorder or microphone is available and the pupils are conscien­tious about using it effectively, one group can play both roles for themselves.

Finger coding. Use one hand to point to the fingers on your other hand to indicate the words of a sentence or a question. Stop on or wiggle the finger when a mistake has been made to focus the pupils' attention there. This is good for correcting word order, missing words, subject-verb agreement, and wrong word choice. The teacher prompts the pupils' self-correction.

Switcheroo. Crisscross fingers, hands, or be dra­matic and go for the whole arm to show when the order of two words should be re­versed. Stay silent. This is especially good for adjective/noun placement and ques­tion formation.

Sign Language . Use large pieces of brightly colored paper. Put a big "S" on one to correct third-person singular mistakes. On an­other piece, write the word "to" but crossed out with a big X to correct the wrong use of "to" with infinitive. Hold the signs up as needed.

Caught on tape. Record the pupils' presentations and point out problematic areas and words. For advanced levels, give a written evalu­ation or have the pupils' do it for their classmates.

Silent Way style. When pupils make mistakes, give them a directive to correct the error with­out giving them the correction itself. For example, say things like, "Change the pronunciation," "Change the verb," or "Change, the third word." [4; 38-39]

Error Correction Techniques:

No correction.

Example: S: I didn’t went to the movies.

T: Why?

Indicating the source of error.

Example: T: What’s your name?

S: Very well, thanks.

T: That’s not I asked you.

Disapproval gesture.

Example: S: I can to play the guitar.

T: The teacher moves his head indicating 'no' (incorrect answer)

Asking for repetition or clarification.

Example: S: Teacher at 9:30.

T: I don't understand. What did you say?

Giving a clue to correction.

Example: S: I go to the movies last night.

T: You need to use the past tense. I went to the movies last night.

Giving the correct form.

Example: S: Тоrо, what have you?

T: What do you have?

Giving options to choose the correct form.

Example: S: I didn't to go to Church yesterday.

T: You didn't to go? Or: You didn't go?

Repeating the error.

Example: S: My mother dead last year.

T: Your mother dead!

S: Yes, my mother dead last year.

Interrupting the speaker.

Example: S: Infrastructure is determined by... structure.

T: Determined, (pronunciation)

Commenting on the error.

Example: S: Alice can sings very well.

T: Many of you seem to have forgotten the proper use of modal auxiliaries. This is something you need to study again

Grammatical explanation.

Example: T: How can we prevent AIDS?

S: Not having a sex.

T: Okay, you don't really need an "a" there because sex is a non-count noun...

Treating the errors on the board.

Example: S: 1 have much friends.

T: The teacher writes on the board: Many: friends-bananas-apples (count) Much: time-money-sugar (non-count)

Individual treatment.

Example: S: Everyone know the answer.

T: Pronouns such as "everyone, no one, everybody" are singular. You need to say, "everyone knows."

Writing the correction for each student.

Example: S: I have two beautifuls daughters.

T: I have two beautiful daughters.

Creating a story using the correct form.

Example: S: I have twenty years old,

T: This is my friend Susan. She is twenty years old. She has a son. Her son is two years old....

Paraphrasing using the correct form.

Example: S: I used to went to the church everyday when I was children.

T: How interesting! You used to go to church everyday when you were a child.

Treating errors as homework where the students have to correct their errors.

Example: S: I'm liking to listen to music.

T: Homework. Correct the following sentences: 1. I'm liking to listen to...

Doing a class activity to reinforce the correct for.

Example: S: I have twenty years old.

T: Today we're going to play "20 questions" in order to find out how old each student is...

Listening to a recording.

Example: S: Who want something to eat?

T: The teacher stops the tape when there's a mistake to be treated. And the students either write down or say the correct form.

Asking the original question.

Example: T: Juan, how old are you?

S: I am firte, and you ?

T: Juan, listen carefully, how old are you?

Asking questions using the correct form.

Example: S: Teacher, did you saw Ana?

T: Did I see Ana? No, what about you? Did you see Ana?

Watching a video of any activity videotaped from the class.

Example: S: I wish it doesn't rain tomorrow.

T: Stop the videotape when there's a mistake: I wish it doesn't rain ... (And everyone can come up with the correct form.)

Repeating sentence correctly.

Example: S: The police in C.R. is not paid well.

T: You're right. The police are not well paid in our country.

Providing correct examples.

Example: S: My mother can cooks really well.

T: Ana can play the piano ./Juan can cook very well/The teacher can speak Japanese.

Spelling the correct form.

Example: S: I eat cone for dinner.

T: Cone? You eat cones'? S: Corn, I eat corn.

T: You eat com, C-O-R-N. I wasn't getting the R sound.

Repeating the correct form.

Example: S: Pronunciation errors: Island/you

T: Please repeat after me: island/you

Grouping errors made by different pupils.

Example: SI: I can to go.

S2:1 will to study.

S3: He would to work.

T: Never use to with modals.