1. Error Correction
By Sarah Anaki

2. What’s The Difference Between
Mistakes and Errors?
Mistakes are when students produce incorrect
language although they know the correct form.
Errors are when students produce incorrect
language because they don’t know the correct form.
Students can usually correct their mistakes but by
definition they can’t correct their errors.

3. Self Correction vs Peer Correction
There are essentially three basic forms
of :error correction
1. Self-correction
Peer correction2.
Teacher correction3.

4. Important Questions
1.Should learners’ errors be corrected?
2.When should learners’ errors be corrected?
3.Which errors should be corrected?
4.How should errors be corrected?
5.Who should do the correcting?

5. Speaking and Reading
Types of Corrective Feedback:
1.Explicite correction.Clearly indicating that’s the
student’s utterance was incorrect.The teacher
provides the correct form.
e.g: the coyote , the bison and the ….cr…crane.And
the crane.we say crane.(phonological error(

6. 2.Recast.Without directly indicating that the student’s
utterance was incorrect. The teacher implicitly
reformulate the student’s error or provide the
correction.
e.g:”Maple sap?”Maple sap, good.(grammatical
error(
3.Clarification request.By using phrases like”
Excuse me ?” or “I don’t understand” the teacher
indicates that the message has not been understood
or that the student’s utterance contained some kind
of mistake and that a repetition or a reformulation is
required.
e.g:”Can ,can I made a card on the …. for my little
brother on the computer?” Pardon.

7. 4.Metalinguistic clues.Without providing the correct
form. The teacher poses questions or provides
comments or informations related to the formation
of the student’s utterance.
e.g:”Uhm,the,the elephant.The elephant growls.”Do
we say the elephant?(Multiple errors)
5.Elicitation.The teacher directly elicits the correct
form from the student by asking questions.
e.g:”Well , there is a stream of perfume that doesn’t
smell very nice.”So, a stream of perfume we call that
a….?”

8. 6.Repetition. The teacher repeats the student’s
errors and adjust intonation to draw student’s
attention to it.
e.g:”The….the giraffe?”The giraffe?”

9. Why doesn’t my teacher correct all my mistakes
when I am speaking or reading?
‘t correct all your mistakes:Good reasons why teachers don
Class time
Slip ups
Relevance
Concentration/ distractions
Fluency
Expanding your language
Natural learning style
Saving mistakes for later
Introducing new language instead
Negative reactions
Confidence boosting

10. Writing
Error correction is often done by the teacher providing corrections for mistakes
made by students.However it is probably more effective for students to
correct their own mistakes.In order to do this,students and the teacher should
have a common shorthand for correcting mistakes.
Correcting writing mistakes with a correction key:
T=Tense
P=Ponctuation
WO=Word order
Prep=Preposition
WW=Wrong word
GR=Grammar
Y(upside down)=Word missing
SP=Spelling

12. Conclusion
I have brought up a highly-debated, complex issue, but I would venture to guess
that many language educators would agree with the following simple maxim:
Do not correct students when the objective is communication, but be sure to
correct the structures being practiced when activities have a grammar focus.
For example, when a student is making an oral presentation in English to the
class, do not interrupt his or her speech with error corrections. When the task
objective is to develop students communicative skills, halting their work can
negatively affect fluency and confidence. You may, however, jot down any
salient errors and tell him later, either orally in a student-teacher conference or
in writing, using an evaluation form. For instance, during students' role plays
or other speaking activities, I often walk around the room listening for and
noting errors. (Try to collect one example from each student). I put them on the
board anonymously and have the students correct them as a class. If, however,
your students are practicing a specific language structure (orally or in written
form), you should always monitor and correct that structure. For example, if
students are making predictions using the English future tense, you can ignore
other mistakes but you should indicate and have them correct future tense
errors. In these circumstances, I find that self and peer-correction are
particularly effective..