What is the role of error?
Making mistakes plays an important and
useful part in language learning because it
allows learners to experiment with language
and measure their success in
communicating.
Mary Spratt (2011)
What are the main reasons why
your learners make mistakes?
When learners try to say something that is beyond
their current level of knowledge.
As the result of tiredness, worry or other temporary
emotions or circumstances.
There is influence from L1 on the L2. Learners
may use sound patterns, lexis, grammatical
structures from their own language in English.
The learners are working out, experimenting with
language they have learnt.
Think about these teachers’
comments. Which do you agree with
and why?
If my students make mistakes, it means I
haven’t taught them well.
My students like me to correct all their
mistakes, so I do.
Teachers can only correct each mistake
and each student in the same way.
ERROR
What kind (ingrained/
of a fossilised
MISTAK habit)
E is it? Correct
the
Student?
SLIP of the
tongue
Yes
Give Student
an easy way
Don’t
to remember
CORRE to not make
CT the the error
student again
I’m late because I
lost the bus
T1: Lost? Vocabulary….? using terminology
T2: I’m late because I …….
Repeat the utterance up to the
point of the mistake
T3: Hold up hands and indicates with
figures: I’m late because I lost Finger correction
(waggles finger) the bus?
T4: Oh dear? Did you find it? Or Is it Using questions or/concept
yours? (No?) Then you can’t lose it! questions and /or humour
T5: You missed the bus! Or Why did
Reformulation
you miss the bus?
T6: What do you mean? Feign misunderstanding
T7: I’m late because I missed the bus Tell them the correct answer
T8: Makes no comment until later
Delayed correction
and then writes on WB for all to
correct
Who corrects?
v Self – correction
v Teacher – Student correction
v Student - Student correction
v Group work – e.g. On board /
handouts
v Course book or reference book
Would you intervene?
v
Students are having discussion about pollution in the city.
They are making lots of mistakes with grammar,
vocabulary and pronunciation and they are keep saying
ambience instead of environment.
v
Students are doing class survey about routines at
elementary level. They are making a lot of mistakes with
2nd and 3rd forms of the Present Simple (e.g. she go, you
goes)
v
While you are drilling an item of lexis, a few students
persistently getting the pronunciation wrong in the same
way
v
You are getting feedback to a listening or reading and the
student makes a grammar or lexical mistake
vIt is useful to think about what kind of mistake the learner is
making – a slip or an error. If the mistake is a slip, the
learner can correct him/herself, may be with a little
prompting from the teacher or another learner. Or, there
may be no point in correcting a slip.
vSometimes, particularly in fluency activities, it is better to
not to pay attention to learners’ mistakes, so that the
learners have an opportunity to develop their confidence
and their fluency.
vErrors which prevent communication are more important
to correct than those which do not.
vSome learners within the same class may need to be
corrected, while others may not, depending on their stage of
learning, learning style and level of confidence.
Mary Spratt (2011)
