Corrective Feedback - Error Correction- Student Uptake Diana Foran Storer November 28,2012 Diana Foran Storer1

Big Question: when and how to correct in SLA? Oral mistakes made during class discussions: 1) Correct often and thoroughly 2) Let students make mistakes. 3) Let beginners make many mistakes but correct advanced students often. 4) Selective correction. The teacher decides to correct only certain errors. 5) After –the- Fact. Teacher takes notes, then in follow up session goes over list for benefit of all. What do YOU think? Diana Foran Storer2

Big Question: What to correct? Grammatical mistakes (mistakes of verb tenses, preposition use, etc.) Vocabulary mistakes (incorrect collocations, idiomatic phrase usage, etc.) Pronunciation mistakes (errors in basic pronunciation, errors in word stressing in sentences, errors in rhythm and pitch) Written mistakes (grammar, spelling and vocabulary choice mistakes in written work) Diana Foran Storer3

In CLIL, the added factor: Content Fluency is more stressed than accuracy Aural comprehension over written expression Spoken expression showing underdstanding and cognitive engagement over grammatical perfection Demonstration of Content knowledge Diana Foran Storer4

Correcting Written work There are three basic approaches to correcting written work: 1)Correct each mistake 2)Give a general impression marking 3)Underline mistakes and / or give clues to the type of mistakes made and then let students correct the work themselves. Diana Foran Storer5

Teacher myth: By allowing students to make mistakes, I am reinforcing the errors they are making. If teachers do not correct mistakes immediately, will they be helping to reinforce incorrect language production skills? Is this feeling reinforced by students who expect teachers to continually correct them during class. What do you think? Diana Foran Storer6

Myth: By allowing students to make mistakes, I am permitting the natural learning process to achieve competency and, eventually, fluency. Learning a language is a long process; many, many mistakes are made From not speaking a language to being fluent takes time, and patience Students who are continually corrected become inhibited and cease to participate-- thus opposite of what the teacher is trying to produce - the use of English to communicate. Do you agree? Diana Foran Storer 7

Mistake Error A mistake is a previously learned grammar point, vocabulary word, or phrase which the student uses incorrectly Incorrectly produced language that hasn't yet been studied Attempt at applying rules from the native tongue to English. Taking a previously studied English rule and extending it to a new and unacceptable situation. Diana Foran Storer8

Categorizing errors Productive: Reason for its spoken or written production- –It is the result of a random guess –It was produced while testing out hypotheses –It is a slip- of-the-tongue, a lapse, a mistake (caused by carelessness, fatigue etc.) Diana Foran Storer9

Categorizing errors Receptive (faulty understanding). Misinterpretation of the word, sentence meaning, pronunciation, etc. leading to break in communication. Specifically: –A lexical error - vocabulary –A phonological error - pronunciation –A syntactic error- grammar –An interpretive error - misunderstanding of a speaker's intention or meaning –A pragmatic error - failure to apply the rules of – conversation Diana Foran Storer10

1.On-the-spot explicit feedback: The teacher provides the correct form indicating that what the students said was wrong. St: There is no priest for cancer. T: No. Thats the wrong word. We say cure. Gestures Using hand gestures (tense) Wall posters (3 rd pers. S) Corrective Feedback techniques Diana Foran Storer11

–Mouthing This is useful with pronunciation, stress errors. –Error Awareness Noting down errors, then ST-Teacher conference; or in class, global Recording spoken production Personal Error Awareness tables Diana Foran Storer12

Recasts: teacher implicitly reformulates all or part of the students utterance; - St: John goed to the store. T: Oh, really? John went to the store yesterday? - St: I went in Scotland T: Oh really, you went to Scotland, did you? Diana Foran Storer13

3.Elicitation: teacher directly elicits a reformulation from students by asking questions such as T: How do we say that in English? 4. Metalinguistic: Teacher interlanguage Should we use past or present? 5. Pausing to allow students to complete teachers sentence, T: When we speak we use the …..? The ton…..? St: tongue T: Yes, the tongue 6. Reformulations T: What do you mean by quiet talk? St: when no sound when speaking T: Oh, you mean whispering. St: Yes, whispering Diana Foran Storer14

Interactional Modifications Comprehension Checks Do you understand me? Do you follow me? OK? Are you with me? Confirmation Check Is this what you mean? Are you trying to say that…? Clarification Requests What? Huh? Excuse me? Sorry? I dont understand Diana Foran Storer15

Summary: HELP STUDENT ERROR AWARENESS, NOTICING Deferring correction to end of an activity Taking notes on typical mistakes made by many students Correcting only one type of error at a time Giving written clues, but letting them correct themselves Peer correction: from written work, from oral work Diana Foran Storer16

One of a teacher´s role in the language classroom is to give feedback on errors, but different corrective feedback has different rates of language uptake Needs repair. Vs. Student acknowledges error Corrects different error Repeats same error Hesitates Totally off target Partial repair - Repair Repetition of corrected error Incorporation of correction Self-repair Peer-repair Diana Foran Storer17

Examples of uptake T: Okay, and what about Janets education? S1: Uh, Janet from Mount Allison University. T: So Janet graduated from? (Recast) S1: Uh, graduated from. (uptake, successful) S2: …Three years teaching English to children in Spain. And native of English. T: So she is a native speaker of English? (Recast) S2: Yeah, yeah. (uptake, unsuccessful) Diana Foran Storer18

Example of no uptake S3: I cant uh oh sometimes I cant understand. T: Mmmm. S1: really? S3: Especially movie. T: Movies? (Recast) S3: If I dont- If I English- British movie. (no uptake) Diana Foran Storer19

How often do you use corrective feedback? In a normal one hour lesson, a teacher will approximately use * 55% recast feedback 14% elicitation feedback 11% clarification feedback 8% metalinguistic feedback 7% explicit correction 5% repetition feedback Diana Foran Storer20

Summary of Corrective Feedback Explicit correction has a very low rate of uptake since the student doesnt have to self-correct and the mistake could be easily forgotten. T: No, thats wrong. It is bought not buyed. Recasts result in the lowest rate of uptake since they dont lead to any self-repair. T: Oh, so you bought a book yesterday. Elicitation: Teacher asks for a reformulation,How do you say that in Spanish? or pausing to allow student to complete teachers utterance. Diana Foran Storer21

Metalinguistic clues: Teacher provides comments, information, or questions related to student output. T: You need past tense… Clarification: Teacher uses phrases such as, I dont understand, or What do you mean? Pardon? Repetition: Teacher repeats the mistake adjusting intonation to highlight the error. T: You buyed a car??? Diana Foran Storer22

NON LINGUISTIC SUPPORT FOR COMPREHENSION - TEACHER TALK Making sure eyes, mouth can be seen Facial expresiones; gestures, body language Regular comp. checks; eye contact with students Referencing materials: maps, wall decorations, diagrams Regular pauses, wait time Slower speech, higher pitch, exaggerated intonation and stress Diana Foran Storer23

Isolated explicit error correction is usually ineffective in changing language behavior. Error feedback can be effective, but it must be sustained over a period of time It must be focused on something which learners are actually capable of learning. Diana Foran Storer24

Instruction is at its most effective when it reflects the stage just beyond the learners current stage of interlanguage. Instruction then draws learners attention to language features and permits them to develop knowledge of those features if they are developmentally ready to do so. The rate a teacher has to give corrective feedback to her students is usually a good indication of what current stage of interlanguage the students are on. Diana Foran Storer25

Teacher Self Awareness Diana Foran Storer26