1 ACCURACY AND CORRECTING MISTAKES Penny Ur ETAI Miniconference, Kiryat Ono January, 2010

2 This talk: A. How important is it for our students to be accurate in their language use? B.How can we achieve accuracy? C. How does error correction help? D. Summary and conclusions

3 A. How important is it for our students to be accurate in their language use?

4 What do you think? Would you agree or disagree with the following statements? 1.It’s not important for students to spell English words correctly, as long as their meaning is clear 2.It’s not important for students to pronounce like a native speaker, as long as they are easily comprehensible. 3.It’s not important for students to use correct grammar, as long as they are getting their message across If you answered ‘disagree’ to any of the above – can you say why?

5 Accuracy is important because… … From the point of view of the hearer/reader, inaccuracy, even if it doesn’t affect meaning, is –distracting –‘uncomfortable’ –may lower respect for the speaker/writer

6 And because… … from the point of view of the speaker/writer, inaccuracy may –lower self-confidence –lower self-respect as a language user

7 And because… … from the point of view of the teacher, professionalism means teaching the language as best we can, not compromising on careless or unacceptable usage.

8 B. Achieving accuracy

9 Research indicates that to achieve accuracy, learners need... communicative language use + some explicit discussion of form or rules + practice

10 Probably the optimal teaching model combines these Communicative tasks, with ‘time out’ for focus on form, including practice exercises Focus on accuracy: rule explanation, leading into both ‘mechanical’ and communicative practice But also time for: Communication on its own Focus on accurate form on its own

11 Communicative tasks (fluency) (on their own) Language work (accuracy) (on its own)

12 1.Communication (+ accuracy): Task-based instruction The basis of the lesson is a communicative task. We may teach bits of grammar / vocabulary / spelling before, during or after: but the focus is always on the communicative task.

13 A communicative task Discuss how far you agree with the following statements 1.The teacher should correct me when I make a mistake. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree 2.The teacher should ask other students to correct me when I make a mistake. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree 3.The teacher should get me to correct myself. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree 4.The teacher should make me rewrite essays after she’s corrected them. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree 5.The teacher should not only correct me, but also explain why what I said was wrong. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree

14 Communication (+ accuracy) Communication / Fluency: Reading and understanding the sentences and their meanings Discussing how far we agree. Coming to a consensus. (Possibly: rewriting the statements so that we all agree with them) Then, for accuracy: Learning the vocabulary (e.g. use of make with mistake, get so.to, make so. do sth) Work on grammar (e.g. modal should, reflexive pronouns like myself)

15 Comment: Based on authentic language use Puts communication first, accuracy as a means to an end Fashionable (task-based learning) But: Difficult for learners who need to feel ‘safe’ May not, in the long term, lead to coverage of the most important language items

16 2. Accuracy (+ communication) We start with a language point We do some ‘mechanical’ exercises We then progress to more communicative work.

17 Grammar practice 1: conventional form-focused exercises A. discrete items 1. A car is ……… than a bicycle. (fast) 2. Chinese is …………………. than English. (difficult). 3. A lion is ……………. than a dog. (big). B. full text Glenda: I don’t know which dress to buy, the red or the green! Sally: Well, the red one is …………. (expensive), the green one is much ….. (cheap). Glenda: yes, but the red one is much ………….. (pretty). Which do you think suits me …………(well)? …

18 Grammar practice 2: Moving towards meaning Compare the people in this family. Use the adjectives big, fat, thin, small, big, tall, short, old, young. 1.Alex is taller than Jill. 2.Karen is smaller than ……… 3.Jill is……………than Karen. 4.Ben is …………than Alex. 5.Alex is ………………………Karen. 6.Jill is …………………………Ben. Alex Jill Karen Ben

19 Grammar practice 3: Focus on meaning Choose one of these pairs of items. How many different ways can you think of comparing them? Use the comparative form of the adjective. A radio and a computer A rabbit and a snake Playing football and reading a book Harry Potter and Professor Dumbledore …

20 Grammar Practice 4: Focus on communication Debate Debate based on comparison. e.g. discuss the following motions: ‘Computers are better than books’. Or ‘It’s better to live in the town than in the country’.

21 Comment: Based on ‘inauthentic’ language use Old-fashioned (‘PPP’) Puts accuracy first, communication second BUT: Appropriate for learners who need to feel ‘safe’ Based on a systematic language syllabus

22 3. Communication only Just getting learners to use the language for understanding or conveying messages. No following language work.

23 Receptively: listening to stories, listening and responding, reading stories, reading and responding, watching movies… Productively: talking, communication games exchanging information, creative or transactional writing…

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25 Comment ‘Authentic’ and communicative Often fun and interesting, motivating BUT Very variable amount of learning Virtually impossible to check how much learning has taken place Some activities are not appropriate for pupils who like clear-cut and structured tasks

26 4. Accuracy only Talking ‘about’ the language or doing activities that focus on ‘getting it right’: Examples: ‘Tip of the day’ – isolated language points. Grammar explanations Learning lists of vocabulary for a test Dictations Drills Pronunciation work

27 Comment Inauthentic May be boring Leads to ‘theoretical’ knowledge of the language No direct contribution to fluency BUT: Leads to understanding of how the language works Satisfying for some pupils Very easily assessed Indirect contribution to communicative ability

28 Interim conclusions If we wish our learners to become both accurate and fluent in English, we need to provide 1. both explicit and implicit teaching/learning; 2. both meaning- and form-focus; 3. both unthinking and cognitively demanding language production;

29 And we need to organize these within a balanced methodology that includes different teaching processes because 1.Learners are different 2.Even the same learner may learn in different ways at different times 3.Language items are different

30 C. How does error correction help?

31 What different kinds of correction are there? And which is the most effective? Which types of correction, on the whole, lead to better uptake? (Lyster and Ranta, 1997; Lyster, 1998)

32 Types of correction: Recast Elicitation Clarification request Metalinguistic feedback Explicit correction Repetition Frequency of use: 55% 14% 11% 8% 7% 5% Uptake: 18% 46% 28% 45% 36% 31%

33 RESULTS Simple ‘recast’ was most often used, but least ‘uptake’! Recasts may not be perceived as correction at all! The best results are gained from corrective feedback + some negotiation.

34 The correction-during- communication paradox If we correct during communicative work unobtrusively so as not to harm communication – the correction may be ineffective. If we correct more effectively using explicit feedback and ‘processing’ – we may damage the communicative value of the activity.

35 What’s the answer? Professional teaching judgement, taking into account: The overall goals of the course How crucial / important the error is The frequency of the error The level of the student The personality of the student The motivation of the class overall to learn

36 4. What do the learners say

37 A questionnaire-based survey Population: over 1,000 children learning English in State schools in Israel. Ages:

38 Learners’ preferences in oral correction When I make a mistake in oral work I think it's very good / good / not very good / bad if the teacher... Very Good GoodNot Very Good Bad... doesn't correct me at all. … tells me there's a mistake, but doesn't tell me what it is, so I have to correct myself...tells me a mistake and also tells me what the correct form should be. …tells me there's a mistake, tells me the correct form, and makes me repeat it. …tells me there's a mistake, and gets another student to correct me. …corrects my mistake and also explains why it was wrong.

39 Learners’ preferences in written correction When I make a mistake in written work I think it's very good / good / not very good / bad if the teacher... Very Good GoodNot Very Good Bad …doesn't correct me at all. …indicates there's a mistake, but doesn't tell me what it is. …indicates there's a mistake, and gives me a hint what kind of mistake it is. Indicates there's a mistake and writes what the correct form should be. Corrects me in any of the ways indicated above, and doesn't make me rewrite. Corrects me in any of the ways indicated above, and makes me rewrite.

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42 Main points: School-age learners want to be corrected. They feel corrective feedback is valuable They prefer explicit correction (but maybe not adults and more advanced learners) They understand the value of repeating / rewriting the correct form. They do not, on the whole, like to be corrected by their peers.

43 D. Summary and conclusions

44 Accuracy-oriented as well as communicative-oriented language teaching We need to do all we can to make sure that as students are learning new language they learn it correctly; so we should provide opportunities for students to: learn rules talk about the language (language awareness), including contrast with L1 practise accurate as well as meaningful production … as well as lots of communicative work: exposure to (correct) spoken and written language communicative speaking and writing tasks

45 Effective corrective feedback If after all this learners are still making mistakes, corrective feedback can help improve accuracy. Corrective feedback may sometimes be provided during communicative tasks. But ‘recasts’ on their own are probably ineffective. The most effective corrective feedback occurs when learners actively participate in negotiation of the correction, to make sure that there is uptake.

46 Thank you for listening!