LZM1 Task 4
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Dec 6, 2023
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LZM 1 Task 4: Error Correction
Natalie Hamilton
WGU
As with any subject, feedback is important. When teaching English as a
second language it is vital to give said feedback in a way that is most meaningful to your students. There are a handful of ways to give error correction in spoken language. I’m going to be writing about four of them: Explicit correction, recast (implicit correction), clarification, and elicitation. Let’s begin with explicit correction. The word explicit is defined as ‘clearly expressed or demonstrated’. This makes perfect sense when talking about explicit correction as explicit correction is when the educator immediately and directly corrects the student’s errors on the spot. According
to research, learners want this type of feedback as it is instant. So, it tends to
yield the highest gains for changing language errors. This technique, however, is shied away from because educators believe they will embarrass their students or discourage them (Marcy, 2013).
Recasts occur when the educator states the corrected form of language and the student is required to hear the difference to hear the correction. There is little interruption of the class as it is just said in passing, but is not nearly as successful in changing language errors and is recommended to use with intermediate and higher level students. Lyster and
Ranta summarize that student-generated repairs are important in language learning because they indicated active engagement in the learning process on the part of the students (Tedick and de Gortari, 1998).
Another type of correction is a clarification request. This is just as it sounds, you simply ask for meaning behind what the student says. An
example would be asking “excuse me?” after the student speaks. This relays the message that they were not understood and encourages them to try again. This technique mimics real conversation and gives prompt feedback to
allow for the student to correct their mistakes (Marcy, 2013).
Finally, elicitation, according to Lyster and Ranta (1997), is the most effective in learners uptake due to the high student-generated response it requires. So, what is it? Elicitation is when a teacher used a direct question to
the student in hopes of hearing a correct response such as “What is the dog doing?” The teacher hopes to hear, “The dog is…”.
I think as an educator it is important to use a variety of these techniques as some give instant feedback and others provide opportunities for the students to take charge. However you choose to give feedback, remember, “All the research shows that even feedback not shown to have a lot of positive results is better than no feedback at all”. (Marcy, 2013)
There seems to be a big debate on how to approach written corrections
with ELD students. The biggest concept to look at while providing effective written corrective feedback is what is the purpose or the writing. If you are looking at grammatical errors only, or if it sounds like something a native speaker might say or write—there is a lot to consider here. Many ESL students can create sentences that follow grammar and look like they would be right, but then the sentence doesn’t make sense or sound like something a native speaker would ever say. Secondly, often, when working on writing with students, you are unable to give them instant feedback. This is a huge
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challenge because the feedback won’t allow for the emotional response necessary for the student to internalize and fix the correction. Another potential challenge for providing effective written feedback is realizing that certain errors will only be noticeable in writing like that correct use of apostrophes to show possession. Knowing when to use them, where to use them, and how to use them is something that can only be corrected in writing, but is so infrequent that it will be difficult for the student to practice and master. As an effective language teacher, you should consider the following five factors before deciding whether and how to correct a student’s error. One needs to think about whether you should correct them, when should they be corrected, who should do the correcting, which of the errors should be corrected, and how the corrections should be made. Whether you should correct them or not depends on the situation at hand. It is important to correct students in order for them to gain skills, but you also want to build their confidence and praise them for volunteering to share in the first place. Keep this in mind if they are making errors in every part of their response, maybe let the errors go until you are working with them one on one and break things down for them at that time. When should they be corrected follows closely behind the whether. As stated above you need to evaluate when to correct the student who is participating as to boost their confidence and avoid embarrassment. According to Marcy (2013), immediate correction shows better results as it
gives them feedback as they are making their mistakes, but if they are working towards fluency, interrupting them all the time will impede this instead of aid in it. Use a combination of immediate and delayed corrections as the situation arises. Who should do the correcting falls into three categories: self-correction,
peer correction, and teacher correction. Teachers should be the ones who begin the corrections, but as students grow and develop their language skills, encourage self-correction as they will need to do this once they leave the classroom. In writing, Marcy (2013) states that students may find it easier to find their peer’s errors while reading their peer’s writing. She goes on to teach that once the students find the errors in their peer’s writing, the students should go back and evaluate their own to see if they made a similar
mistake. Which of the errors should be corrected should be determined by whether they are persistent errors or if they affect how the student is communicating. Prioritizing which errors a teacher is correcting is important in finding that balance between helping and harming confidence. There are five types of errors students generally make. They fall into one of these general categories: morphosyntactic errors, phonological errors, lexical errors, semantic errors, or pragmatic errors (Marcy, 2013). Once an educator can identify which errors the students are making, they can better assist in correcting them as well as pushing them towards self-corrections. Providing
correction for every single error made by a student will make it so the student does not know which errors are important to focus on (Marcy, 2013).
“He crazy” is heard from the other side of the room. As the language teacher, I might use explicit correction and respond with “We say, ‘He is crazy…’” and ask for the student to repeat the statement. This would give instant feedback and allow for immediate correction heard and practiced by the student. I would use this strategy if the purpose of the lesson was focused on syntax or proper sentence formation as it gives a direct instruction of their need for a verb (the ‘be’ verb specifically) in the sentence. I could also try to recast it back at the student saying something like, “absolutely… He IS crazy.” (emphasizing the ‘is’) This would allow the student to hear the difference, but not draw too much attention to the fact he/ she made an error. I would use this strategy if the sentence was heard in a conversation or as a passive statement. I might also try to a clarification request by asking “Excuse me?” If the student is at an intermediate level, they would understand that I’m asking for them to try the sentence again. This would work best if the clarification requests have been used in the past and explained properly to aid in proper sentence formations. Writing corrections can be done in difference ways depending on the situation or types of writing that is being evaluated. If a student wrote, “No
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go to the store.” I would correct it in one of three ways: explicit correction, implicit correction, or with use of elicitation.
If I were looking to correct a syntactical error in the assignment, Explicit correction would be done. I would write the correction on the paper and make a point to show the student and explain one on one was I was hoping they would have done and what they could do better the next time. I would even have them rewrite it near mine so they could practice right then and there!
If the assignment was a reading response in which the emphasis of the
lesson was on the reading and comprehension and not specifically writing focused, I would employ an Implicit correction. I could correct the sentence on the paper and allow the student to see the feedback on their own.
Finally, if the purpose of the paper was to work on being grammatically correct, I could use Elicitation by asking the student, “Are you sure they ‘No go to the store’? Does that sound right to you?” This allows the student to hear their error and gives them the power to correct it with you by their side.
As I discuss the skills I would use for the following three different scenarios, I would first look at my students and where they fall in their language journey. I would next look to ensure they are in the zone of proximal development for what we are working towards, and finally look at the overall purpose of the assignment; whether its accuracy or fluency, to make my evaluations.
While grading a written statement, I see “I have lived in United States since five years.” This would obviously cause me to stop and evaluate the student. The student needs the use of prepositions scaffolded as per Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). I would start working with the student to find out what they know already for prepositions and build from there a solid foundation of using prepositions in verbal sentences. This allows me to give elicit corrections should an error arise during our practice. Once I feel he/ she has a better grasp of the use verbally, I would create activities such as peer interviews where questions like “How long have you lived in the US?” would naturally occur. The interviews would assist in the student becoming fluently in responding correctly while using prepositions. In another instance if a student says, “I have three childrens.” It is clear that the student has a grasp of the plural ‘s’, but they are perhaps over generalizing it to the plural form of the word children, which is already plural.
I would take a look at their ZPD to determine what they know for plural/ singular nouns and bridge the gap by allowing for additional practice of these. I would start with making a list of regular singular nouns plural by adding an ‘s’ or ‘es’. Then switch to some irregular singular nouns that follow
the pattern of child =>children. Once I felt the student was on their way seeing the difference, I would ask them a series of questions in which the answers used the plural forms of nouns. This would encourage them to respond correctly and give them the “boost to achieve the task” (McLeod, 2019).
Finally, if I read, ‘I don wanna overstate my case, but there is a lot of evidence.’ while correcting a paper, I would first look at the student who is writing. It appears a dialect might be evident in the way they are writing as they speak. I would look to see if AAE is being used naturally because these deletions are commonly used in the AAE dialect. After discovering if dialect is
at fault here, I would encourage the understanding of informal (speaking) vs formal (writing) differences. I would ask for clarification from the student to explain exactly what they are trying to say; “I do not want to…” From this point the student and I would work together to build contractions correctly. After the student seems to have a better grasp, I might give them correcting power of some peer work to encourage the detection of errors similar to theirs—this will translate to self-correction later. It may be helpful for the student to have a list of contractions available on their desk for reference in the future. This would allow them to self-correct their writing in the future.
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Resources
Lyster, R. & Ranta, L. (1997). Corrective feedback and learner uptake: Negotiation of form in communicative classrooms. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 37-66.
McLeod, S. A. (2019). What Is the zone of proximal development?. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-
Proximal-Development.html
Peggy Marcy. (2013). Error Correction: If, When, and Who [video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt97rNixJ5s
Tedick, D. J. & de Gortari, B. (1998). Research on Error Correction and Implications for Classroom Teaching. ACIE Newsletter, 1(3). Retrieved from http://carla.umn.edu/immersion/acie/vol1/May1998.pdf
(in COS)
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978).
Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes
. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.