Errors, correcting and feedback

1. Errors, correcting and feedback
Required reading (Week 9-10)

2. Types of errors
.
2
Julian Edge (1993) divides mistakes
into 3 broad categories:
• Slips: students can correct
themselves.
• Errors: students cannot correct
themselves.
• Attempts: ambitious language use,
by using structures they have not
learnt yet.

3. What types of errors English language learners
commonly make?
3
1. Errors with nouns (articles, plurals)
Noun error: We have ordered new office equipments.
Correct: We have ordered new office equipment
Article error: There was beautiful sunrise this morning.
Correct: There was a beautiful sunrise this morning.
2. Errors with verbs (tense, form)
Form error: Yesterday I goed to the cinema.
Correct: Yesterday I went to the cinema.
Tense error: Sharon wait here for two hours.
Correct: Sharon have waited here for two hours.

4. What types of errors English language learners
commonly make?
4
3. Subject-verb agreement
Agreement error: The instructions is confusing.
Correct: The instructions are confusing.
4. Word choice
Word choice error: 15 ways to loose weight.
Correct: 15 ways to lose weight.
5. Sentence structure (word order, missing/extra words)
Word order error: He always is late.
Correct: He is always late.
6. Errors also typical of native English speakers (punctuation, sentence
boundaries, spelling, other mechanics).
Sentence boundary error: There's no question about trust. Because everyone is
bound by it.
Correct: There's no question about trust because everybody is bound by it.

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No matter how many times you correct your students, they continue making the same
mistake? Why?...
Mistakes are part of the learning process

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Mistakes are part of the learning process
Before you start blaming them, think about your own second language learning
story…
Are there any mistakes you make over and over again?
If your answer is NO, you are not being 100% honest.

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Mistakes are part of the learning process
The truth is that we all make mistakes.

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Mistakes are part of the learning process
First of all it is important to remind ourselves, as language teachers, that errors are
a normal part of language acquisition whether is a child first language
acquisition or second language acquisition.
Two-year- old or three-year-old children learning English as first language make
errors, in grammar, in morphology, in vocabulary, in punctuation and nobody freaks
out and worries that they are not normally developing. Making errors is a normal
process of language acquisition. Is part of trial and error and learning rules and
applying to future language production.
Look mom! Two
mouses (instead
of mice)

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Language learning takes time

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Language learning takes time
Language acquisition takes time; studies show that second language acquisition
takes time to produce academic language at increasingly advanced levels; it can
take at least seven years and sometimes longer. For many people is a lifelong
process.

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Be realistic!
So as teachers we have to be realistic about where we find students and where they
finish with us. A perfect error-free piece of text is not a realistic goal in many classes
for many students. However, if students started at point A, taking them to point B or
C which is the next step in their language acquisition journey that will be a realistic
goal. Your goals for error treatment will be to have progress and improvement, but
perfection will never be a realistic goal.

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Because…
Errors are a normal part of language acquisition
We don't want students to avoid using vocabulary or sentence structure just because
they are not a 100% percent sure.
Keep in mind that...
Mistakes are the most
important thing that
happens in any
classroom, because
they tell you where to
focus practice.

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We learn from mistakes
Taking risks and learning from mistakes is part of the learning process. If students
never attempt to use more varied vocabulary or other grammatical structures, just
because they want to avoid making mistakes. Students probably might develop a
perfect text, but they will never progress in their writing or they will never progress
in their speaking.

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How does students feel…?
Students sometimes feel that errors will
harm them academically, that is one of
the reasons students avoid using more
complex grammatical structures or more
advanced vocabulary.

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So why don't students view their mistakes as a
valuable asset?
Well, students don't think about their mistakes
rationally -- they think about them emotionally.
Mistakes make students feel stupid. "Stupid" is
just that: a feeling. Specifically, it's the feeling of
shame, and our natural response is to avoid its
source.
If we say something embarrassing, we hide our
face. If we get a bad grade, we hide the test
away.
Unsurprisingly, that's the worst move to make if
you ever want to get better. Academic success
does not come from how smart or motivated
students are. It comes from how they feel about
their mistakes.

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Fossilized Errors
English learners may fail to progress, the word
we use in the language field is “fossilize”.
“Fossilization” means that usage errors have
become embedded (i.e., habitual) in L2 learners‟
language production. It occurs when learners
get no corrective feedback. In some cases, L2
learners with fossilized language patterns are
able to communicate successfully enough for
their immediate purposes and thus have no
immediate motivation to change. Other times,
L2s have no resources available to help them
improve their English usage.

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How students can get out of being fossilize?
Through teacher intervention and by providing
feedback we can help them improve, especially
with learners who are beyond early childhood.
Students will not just automatically improve their
English.
In order to do that students need teacher
intervention to move to the next proficiency
level. If feedback and instruction are carefully
and thoughtfully delivered by teachers, students
will definitely make progress and improve and
will be able to produce more accurate language.

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What else you need to do?
Changing your students' perspective on mistakes
is the greatest gift you can give yourself as a
teacher.

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A fresh take on Mistakes?
To help your students rethink mistakes, help
them be specific about their errors. Knowing that
answer #3 is wrong doesn't mean much.
You can also help students view their mistakes as
helpful. The red pen isn't the enemy -- when
students understand how to deal with errors, red
means go. One way to encourage that attitude is
to take the most common mistakes that the class
made on a test or quiz and analyze them
together.
The more open everyone is about the mistakes
they've made and how they happened, the less
significance any student will place on future
errors.

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The science behind Mistakes…
Telling students they need to take advantage of
the feedback they get isn't just good advice .
To learn any new skill or gain expertise you need
to practice, practice, practice. There isn‟t much
debate about that.
But here‟s what you might not know: scientific
research shows that the quality of your practice is
just as important as the quantity.
This concept is known as deliberate practice,
and it‟s incredibly powerful.
Ericsson (1990)¹ says that it takes 10,000 hours
(20 hours for 50 weeks a year for ten years =
10,0 00) of deliberate practice to become an
expert in almost anything. Is the 10,000-hour
rule. Ten thousand is the number of hours it takes
to become an expert in almost any field.

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Practice is not that perfect!
The current infatuation with 10,000 hours
is no guarantee of world-class expertise.
It is not the repetitions alone that make
the difference.
While it's wonderful that people are
starting to understand how work leads to
expertise, the most important part of that
research is not how much
practice someone needs to perform,
but what kind of practice.
What is important is the feedback and the
reinforcement for improvement
associated with the repetitions that make
the difference. Under these conditions
students become addicted to information
that helps them improve.

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Mistakes happen for concrete reasons
The red "X" is just a simple assessment of the
actions that student took -- actions he or she can
easily fix next time.
Sharing that clarity and causality with your
students is the best way to teach deliberate
practice, instill motivation and help them
develop a more constructive relationship with
mistakes. In short, this creates the class
you and your students have always wanted.

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Providing feedback on errors
• Direct feedback (teacher makes the
correction).
• Indirect feedback (teacher points
out the error but asks student to make
the correction).
• Comprehensive feedback
(correcting all errors you see).
• Selective feedback (marking only
patterns of several specific error
types)
• Explicit feedback (indicating error
type and/or rule reminder)
• Implicit feedback (underlining or
highlighting error)
Strategies on how to correct errors…

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Which errors should be corrected?
• So if you decide to be selective by
giving selective feedback. How do you
decide which errors to treat and which
error to leave for another time?
• There are 3 things teachers have
to consider when deciding what
errors to treat in a selective
approach:
Strategies

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Which errors should be corrected?
1. Serious or global errors that impede readers‟ comprehension. For example word choice
error or sentence construction error or some other kind of error where the reader literally can tell
what the writer means. That will be an important error to point out to the student. The main
purpose of writing is communicating with the reader, so if the sentences are impeding the
readers‟ comprehension, that will be a very serious error and students need to know about it,
before any other type of error is addressed.
2. Patterns of frequent errors, are local errors which are smaller errors that don‟t necessary
impede comprehension, but that appear frequently in patterns are also a good thing to point out
to students. If you have noticed an error over and over again, that can be a great pattern to point
out. By pointing out patterns you made the task of editing or learning to improve more
manageable for the student by pointing out patterns rather than a large collection of errors.
3. Stigmatizing errors that cause readers to label the writer as ESL, teacher have to be
aware about the mistakes that mark students as non-native speakers might be categories of
errors that teacher might pay attention, obviously these are serious errors and patterns of errors.
When dealing with these types of errors teachers will have to make some choices, you can mark
all of them. Teachers will have to carefully consider the tasks, the goals, the needs of every
student from that particular point and time. It is really important for teachers to become familiar
with the types of errors that English language learners can make.
Strategies

26. 26

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I have identified the errors but do I do something
with these errors?
English language learners need a lot of input in their writing, students can benefit from
attention to language issues through the writing process. However, the focus of that
attention should be different depending on the stage of the process.
Throughout the writing process, but with different emphases at various stages:
• Early stages: general indications of 1-2 patterns of error to watch for (“As you revise,
pay attention to plural endings on your nouns…or pay attention to your prepositions, to
your commas, to your verb tenses, to your articles, etc.”) Pick up one or two thing that
you have noticed early on and maybe mark a few of them, so that they have some
examples, but don‟t go through editing every single error throughout the paper,
because you want students to focus in revision, but you still want to get some language
feedback.
When to treat an errors…

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I have identified the errors but do I do something
with these errors?
• Intermediate stages: more detailed, text-specific feedback on several patterns of
error.
• Final versions: feedback on remaining errors for student analysis and to monitor
future paper. (More detail feedback that will help students polish the final product).
Even at the final stage there are ways teachers can intervene so that the students get
maximum benefit from their writing experience or revision editing process and from the
feedback they are getting from the teacher as well as other sources.
• The point is not just to fix a particular paper; the point is to teach students
strategies and analysis skills that they can use for their future writing. So is
important to ask students to do some follow-up work, some analysis or reflection in the
errors that they have made and what they might do about those between now and their
next paper.
• You can do some analysis exercises, where you put some simple sentences from their
final writings that have errors and make students rewrite them.
• Also it is important to give positive feedback, treatment of error is not just about
finding errors and marking them all. But it also involves giving students some positive
feedback about what students are doing correctly, especially when you see progress on
something students struggled earlier. That can be very encouraging to the students.
When to treat an errors…

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• Research recommends that…
• Selective feedback early in writing process; comprehensive feedback on final drafts
(for future reference)
• Reduce amount of teacher feedback as school year, course or term progresses;
require more student involvement, put more responsibility on the students as times
goes on, let them self-edit their writings and make them improve with less intervention
from the teacher. Students need to have error correction skills on their own. (Students
need to become independent writers).
• Use peer- and self-editing workshops in class to build student autonomy, the
teacher is not the only one who know enough to give feedback, peer can be
good readers for one and other, students can be guided to look for patterns of errors.
Teachers should not be doing all the work of error feedback students should be doing
their own self-editing and being helpful readers to one and other. Teacher need to
provide students on how to give good feedback and structure tasks to make peer-
editing practical and meaningful.
When, how and what? (Giving feedback on errors)
What are some of the best ways to respond to
students writing?

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• Combine direct/indirect feedback (e.g., direct feedback for lexical errors such as
prepositions, indirect for errors students should be able to correct)
• More direct feedback for lower-proficiency learners; more indirect feedback for
advanced learners
• Ask students to revise/rewrite texts and/or complete reflection/analysis
exercises after receiving corrections (Make student do something with your feedback! If
students engage with the feedback they will benefit from it.)
When, how and what? (Giving feedback on errors)
What are some of the best ways to respond to
students writing?

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We as teacher we don‟t just want to correct errors, correcting or treating errors is
important but we also want to build students‟ language skills and have more effective
repertoire of linguistic structures in vocabulary and grammar so that they can accomplish
their purposes in writing as successfully as possible.
There different things teacher can do to build that kind of skills…
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Style
• Developing independence in writing
• Self-editing strategies for ELs
Dealing with types of errors
Activities, techniques teacher can use…

32. Teach vocabulary analysis strategies through classroom intensive reading activities
Require and facilitate extensive reading
Encourage or require self-directed vocabulary learning (note cards or journals)
Help students understand the importance of accurate and effective lexical choices in
writing
Teach students to analyze and revise vocabulary choices in their own writing
Vocabulary development
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34. • Teach mini-lessons on patterns of error common to the whole class
• Go beyond “error”: Build awareness and control of grammatical structures elicited by
specific writing tasks (e.g., tense shifts for narratives, appropriate use of passive
voice)
• Follow any grammar instruction with immediate application to students‟ own writing
(peer- and self-editing workshops)
Grammar instruction
34

35. • Work on writing style with more advanced learners who have
generally good linguistic control/repertoires
• Discuss register, genre, and audience in relation to specific writing
tasks
• Teach basic distinctions between casual and formal writing styles
(e.g., use of contractions, first/second person, “casual” punctuation
such as dashes or parentheses, use of sentence fragments)
• Help students become aware of vocabulary choices considered
informal or cliché
Style
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36. • Raise awareness about the effects of error on real-world audiences
• Emphasize the importance of attending to accuracy, especially in final stages of text
production
• Include accountability mechanisms (through grading) and follow-up
(reflection/analysis activities, rewriting/revision, charting, etc.)
• Teach self-editing strategies (next)
Autonomy
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37. Proofreading
• Using word-processing tools effectively
• Reading aloud
• Adequate time & distance from writing
content
Analyzing word choice, sentence
structure, and style
Other editors (working effectively with
peers and other readers)
Awareness of weaknesses/error
patterns; independent study & practice
resources
Strategies for self-editing
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38. Proofreading
• Using word-processing tools effectively
• Reading aloud
• Adequate time & distance from writing content
Analyzing word choice, sentence structure, and style
Other editors (working effectively with peers and other readers)
Awareness of weaknesses/error patterns; independent study & practice
resources
Strategies for self-editing
38

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• Communicative language teaching has convinced teachers that in order to get English
language learners communicating well in the target language, interaction activities
must be incorporated into lessons so that they can practise speaking with their peers
and with the teacher. However, whilst communicating in one‟s mother tongue is natural,
communicating in another language is very demanding, especially for low-level
learners.
• The communication process requires accuracy and fluency in the target
language, while the planning and editing time is very limited and some necessary
language components are likely still to be unfamiliar or even unknown. Therefore, it is
inevitable that learners will make errors during the learning process.
Dealing with errors in oral activities
Correcting Oral errors…

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• In terms of the aim of interaction, a distinction is often made between
noncommunicative and communicative activities. As Jeremy Harmer explains, the
former are generally intended to ensure accuracy, while the latter are designed to
improve language fluency.
• In other words, non-communicative activities, sometimes called „controlled
practice activities‟ are designed to encourage correct production of newly
presented language or to correct errors later on, while the goal of communicative
activities is to get the learners to use new language in more natural communication.
• This distinction helps teachers decide the extent to which errors should be corrected. In
non-communicative activities, teachers should focus on accuracy and try to
correct the learners‟ errors immediately. With communicative activities, it is better
for teachers to avoid overcorrection and focus the learners‟ attention on the
communication of ideas rather than specific grammar points or vocabulary usage.
Dealing with errors in oral activities.
Interaction aims

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• The options include: immediately; after a few minutes; at the end of the activity; later
in the lesson; at the end of lesson; in the next lesson; later in the course; never. If the
objective is accuracy, then immediate correction is more likely to be useful; if the aim
is fluency, then immediate correction is less appropriate and any correction
will probably come after the activity has finished or later. Interrupting to correct
the learners can kill an activity.
In oral activities.
But when should teachers correct errors?

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• Recognizing different teacher and learner roles in error correction can foster positive attitudes
towards correction, involve the learners in the learning process and reduce their dependence on
the teacher
• Giving the learners the chance to self-correct is helpful in establishing an atmosphere conducive to
learning. The learners will learn how to monitor themselves and become more accurate and
autonomous. Sometimes they will need some assistance from the teacher to identify where the
errors are and what kind of errors they are before they can self-correct.
• Peer-correction is useful, too, but must be handled carefully. Pairs or group members should
change frequently to avoid giving the better learners a sense of self-satisfaction and the lower-level
learners a feeling of inferiority.
• If errors are too difficult for self correction or peer-correction, the teacher should stop and
explain the right form to the whole class. The learners should then practice the correct version.
Teachers should also identify any common errors that their learners make and use these to plan
subsequent lessons.
Different teacher and students roles in error correction
Roles

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Stages in Error correction
• Correction is usually made up of four distinct stages. Whether to follow the stages strictly or
not will depend on the level of the learners.
• Firstly, the teacher should show that something is not accurate by a gesture or (not-
too-discouraging) word.
• Secondly, the teacher should let the learner know where the error is. They can do
this by isolating the part of the utterance that is wrong. So, if a learner says „My sister come
yesterday‟ but means „My sister came yesterday‟, then just telling him to try again might be
of no use.
• Thirdly, the learner needs to know what kind of error it is (eg grammatical or
phonological). In the example above, the learner needs to know that the mistake is in the
verb come. If he still can‟t correct the error after the teacher tells him that the word come is
incorrect, the teacher will need to give a further hint or supply the correct word.
• Lastly, to make everything clear, the teacher should repeat the correct version,
even when the learners can correct themselves. This helps the learners to consolidate what
they have learnt.

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Recording errors
• In controlled practice activities, correction is usually done during the activity.
However, in freer speaking activities, for example role-plays or discussions, it is
better not to interrupt. As it is not easy to recall learners‟ errors after the activity has
finished, many teachers watch and listen while speaking activities are taking place but at the
same time take notes of any common errors in grammar, pronunciation, etc. They also note
down things that go well and times when learners couldn‟t make themselves understood.
After the activity has finished, they ask the learners how they think it went, before giving
their own feedback.
• If there is recording equipment, teachers can video activities and use parts of the recording
with the learners to examine any errors. This can be time-consuming, but it is usually
appreciated by the learners.

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Techniques for correction
Jeremy Harmer describes a number of efficient ways to give correction:
Repeating
The teacher asks the learner to repeat what they said by saying „Again?‟ or „Pardon?‟ using
intonation or facial expression to indicate that some part of what they said is wrong.
Echoing
The teacher repeats what the learner has said, stressing the part that is incorrect.
Statement and question
The teacher simply points out that there was an error and asks a question like „How can we
make that sentence right?‟ or „What‟s wrong with that sentence?‟ to involve learners in the
correction process.
Expression
When the teacher knows the learners well, a simple facial expression, such as a frown, coupled
with a gesture, can show something is not correct.
Metalanguage
Teachers can use linguistic terms (countable nouns, word order, etc) to let the learners know
what errors they have made and get them to think about how to correct them.

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Techniques for correction
Recasts are an attempt to imitate the way in which real-life correction happens. Typically, it is
the way people in the street or in shops react to learners‟ errors, and is generally how parents
correct their children. Recasts are an indirect and gentle way of giving feedback, in which the
teacher reformulates all or part of an utterance into a correct or more appropriate version of
what a learner is trying to say. For example:
Student: I go to the cinema last night.
Teacher: You went to the cinema. What did you see?
Student: ‘Avatar’.
In this example, the teacher supplies the correct form (went) without interrupting the flow of
speech, thus maintaining a focus on meaning.
Recasts are considered to be an effective way of providing learners with the opportunity to
notice how their interlanguage compares with what competent speakers say. I am sure that the
fact that they do not disrupt communication also accounts for their popularity amongst teachers
who adopt a communicative approach.

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Techniques for correction
Reformulation
In two cases, the teacher may need to rework the learner‟s utterance. One case is when there
are several errors needing correction, and it may be beyond the learner‟s ability to self-correct.
The other is when the teacher feels it is necessary to help the learner produce a more natural
and appropriate utterance. As Andrew Cohen points out, it isn‟t enough for teachers just to
focus on correcting the wrong use of basic vocabulary, grammatical forms and pronunciation.
Such evaluation is only partial as it focuses on „low-level‟ accuracy, but ignores „higher-level‟
factors, such as appropriate word choice and native-like organisation.
Oral errors are usually picked up on when only one learner is speaking, so correction often has
to be done on an individual basis. However, teachers should avoid slowing down the pace of the
lesson and letting the other learners get bored. To reduce the likelihood of this, they should
involve the whole class as much as possible in the correction process and spend less time
correcting something that is only a problem for one learner and more time on problems
common to the whole class.

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Conclusion
The effectiveness of any error correction depends on its implementation. Both teachers
and learners have to try to replace negative reactions with a positive outlook. Teachers can help
by explaining to the learners the purpose of correction and the techniques they will use. This
explanation can include the fact that the amount and timing of the correction will depend on
whether the emphasis of an activity is on accuracy or fluency, to what extent they intend to
correct errors, how they are going to provide feedback and how the learners can help each
other in error correction. This will help to create positive attitudes towards error correction and
a supportive atmosphere in class.
Teachers should be equipped with enough knowledge of the grammar, vocabulary,
and so on of the target language to enable them to provide good lessons without
misleading the learners and causing „teacher-induced‟ errors. While preparing lesson
plans, teachers should familiarise themselves with all aspects of an item of language they are
focusing on. The more they know about the language they are going to teach, the less likely
they are to make mistakes.
We must all bear in mind that the aim of correction is to bring about selfawareness and
improvement, and when giving correction teachers should not forget to give positive feedback
on the learners‟ work. If this is not done as a matter of routine, it can be hard to maintain a
positive and cooperative working atmosphere

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References
Ferris, D. (Director) Preparing Teachers To treat errors in K12 Classroom. Lecture conducted
from University of California Davis, California.
Ferris, D. (Director) Though Two lenses. Lecture conducted from University of California Davis,
California.
Payne, C. (2012, May). Castaway? Retrieved April 1, 2015, from
http://www.etprofessional.com/castaway_81492.aspx
Payne, C. (2012, May). Castaway? Retrieved April 1, 2015, from
http://www.etprofessional.com/castaway_81492.aspx
Tian, M. (2012, July). Correcting oral errors. Retrieved April 1, 2015, from
http://www.etprofessional.com/correcting_oral_errors_81125.aspx