TKT教科书电子版

Unit31 Correcting learners

How do we correct learners?

When we correct learners we show them that something is wrong and that they have made a mistake. We may also show them how to put their mistake right. When learners make mistakes in speaking or writing, we correct these mistakes in different ways. We use oral correction techniques to correct oral mistakes and written correction techniques to correct written mistakes. We also use different techniques when we correct different kinds of mistakes, i.e. errors or slips.

Key concepts

What ways can you think of for correcting learners’ oral and written mistakes?

Oral correction

Here are some ways that we can correct oral mistakes:

1. Drawing a time line on the board. Time lines show learners the relationship

between the use of a verb tense and time. This technique is particularly useful for mistakes such as ‘I have seen that film two weeks ago’. The time line to show this mistake might look like this.

Past ← Now → Future

X

X= two weeks ago

This shows learners that, because the event is in the past and the time is

specified, they cannot use the present perfect. The correct sentence is ‘I saw that film two weeks ago’.

2. Finger correction. This shows learners where they have made a mistake. We

show one hand to the class and point to each finger in turn as we say each word in the sentence. One finger is usually used for each word. This technique is particularly useful when learners have left out a word or when we want them to use a contraction, for example I’m working rather than I am working. We bring two fingers together to show that we want them to bring the two words together.

3. Gesture and/or facial expressions are useful when we do not want to

interrupt learners too much, but still want to show them that they have made a slip. A worried look from the teacher can indicate to learners that there is a problem. It is possible to use many different gestures or facial expressions. The ones you use will depend on what is appropriate for your culture and your teaching situation.

4. Phonemic symbols. Pointing to phonemic symbols is helpful when learners

make pronunciation mistakes, for example using a long vowel /u:/ when they should have used a short one /v/, or when the mispronounce a consonant. You