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i All Students make mistakes at various
stages of their language learning. It is part
of natural process they are going through
and occurs for a number of reasons.
i In the first place, the students' own
language may get in the way.
i This is most obviously the case with µfalse
friends¶- those words which sound or look
the same but mean something different
such as µassstir¶ in Spanish which means
µattend µ in English and not assist.
i alse friends are more common where
the learner¶s language shares a common
heritage with English. In Arabic we have
this heritage like cut ϊτϗ cat ςϗ cave
ϒϬϛ cup ΏϮϛ

i Grammatical Consideration too:Japanese

students usually have trouble with article
usage, Germans have to get used to put
the verb correctly, Arabic students have
to deal with a completely different written
system etc.


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i A crucial issue for any teacher is when
and how to correct students' English
mistakes. Of course, there are a
number of types of corrections that
teachers are expected to make during
the course of any given class. Here are
the main type of mistakes that need to
be corrected:

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i Grammatical mistakes (mistakes of verb
tenses, preposition use, etc.)
i Vocabulary mistakes (incorrect
collocations, idiomatic phrase usage, etc.)
i Pronunciation mistakes (errors in basic
pronunciation, errors in word stressing in
sentences, errors in rhythm and pitch)
i Written mistakes (grammar, spelling and
vocabulary choice mistakes in written
work)

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i The main issue at hand during oral work is
whether or not to correct students as the
make mistakes. Mistakes may be numerous
and in various areas (grammar, vocabulary
choice, pronunciation of both words and
correct stressing in sentences). On the
other hand, correction of written work boils
down to how much correction should be
done. In other words, should teachers
correct every single mistake, or, should they
give a value judgments and correct only
major mistakes.

 

 


i With oral mistakes made during
class discussions, there are
basically two schools of thought:
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Sometimes, teachers refine the
choice by choosing to let
beginners make many mistakes
while correcting advanced
students often. 
i However, many teachers are
taking a third route these days.
This third route might be called
r 

 r. In this case,
the teacher decides to correct
only certain errors. Which errors
will be corrected is usually
decided by the objectives of the
lesson, or the specific exercise
that is being done at that moment.
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i 1. Asking for repetition without
indicating the mistake.
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i @. Drawing attention to mistakes and prompting
self-correction.
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'The car was invent in 1995.

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i R. Peer correction
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ß.Giving students clues to the type of error
they are making (in written work) but
allowing them to correct the mistakes
themselves .

8.Asking other students to remark on

mistakes made and then explain the rules by
themselves. A great technique for getting
'teacher pets' listening instead of answering
each question themselves. However, use
this with caution.

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i We wish to avoid de-motivating our students.

The less corrections the better therefore and
this should follow from carefully controlled
work.
i Get the pupils to check each others' work
before handing it.
i Isolate the main error. If the past tense is
highlighted and the writing involves a narrative
in the past concentrate on that and ignore
other errors. Correcting every single error
achieves nothing since it confuses and de-
motivates pupils. @
i ´se different coloured pens for marking.
Perhaps red for the main errors,green for
others .
i ´se a code (Don¶t correct everything
yourself ± encourage pupils to spot their
errors) eg.sp = spelling, ww = wrong word
etc.
i Discuss common errors in class when
handing back work.
i Get pupils to work in pairs to correct their
mistakes.
@

i µCorrection¶ is best done with pupils as
they are writing and
improvement/corrections can be discussed
with individuals.
i Written assignments must present pupils
with only a reasonable challenge;
something for which they have been
prepared in class, If a written task is too
difficult, it will lead to so many errors that it
is impossible to correct in a constructive
way.
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i The teacher should go through the
pupil's written work in detail,
underlining all errors. This must be
done with some precision. The
nature of the error is indicated with
an abbreviation in the margin. That
is all at this stage: no marks are
awarded nor comments made.
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Common abbreviations used by teachers:

i sp = spelling
i st = structures
i wo = word order
i ww = wrong word
i t = tense
i p = punctuation
i + = add something
i - = omit something
i ? = incomprehensible
i * = see note below
Students may like to make a note of these abbreviations inside the
cover of their copybooks. @:
 Stage two
i Work is returned to the pupils with
the underlinings and marginal
abbreviations.
i The pupils study them and attempt
to correct their errors, with the help
of the textbooks and dictionary.
i The teacher¶s role here is to go
round to check that the pupils have
truly studied the errors.
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 Stage three
i The teacher correct the work again,
focusing on the pupils' response to
the underlined errors.
i If the pupil has made a reasonable
attempt to correct his own work, he
should be awarded. Otherwise, the
work is returned at the pupil so
that he can make a second attempt
of self correction. R
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i If I allow students to make
mistakes, I will reinforce the errors
they are making.
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i If I don't allow students to make
mistakes, I will take away from the
natural learning process required to
achieve competency and, eventually,
fluency.
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