Group 7 M98c0209 李威德 M96c0208 黃森瑞 M98c0104 陳泓姚

What are errors? Regardless of the teacher’s skill and perseverance. Most teachers believe that to ignore these mistakes might put at risk the learner’s linguistic develop.

What are errors? It seems to be an inevitable part of learning a language. Current research tends to support this view and not to ignore mistakes. Make a number of on-the-spot decisions.

A teacher might ask …… When face with a student’s possible error:  Is there an error here?  What kind if error is it?  What caused it?  Does it matter?  What should I do about it?

Example: I had a big surprise. There is nothing wrong with this sentence. It is a grammatically well-formed sentence. Right order, tense is correct,and the subject and verb agree.

Three categories of errors have been identified: Lexical errors: include mistakes in the way words are combined. Grammar errors: cover such things as mistakes in verb form and tense, and in sentence structure. Discourse errors: relate to the way sentences are organized and linked in order to make whole texts.

Pronunciation errors. Identifying the cause of an error can be equally problematic. Speakers may recognize, in the above text, the influence of the writer’s first language (L1) on second language(L2).

L1 v.s L2 EX: He’s lower (different from) he’s a lawyer. Due to lack of the indefinite article. In Spanish construction which the indefinite article (un) is not used.

Interference Such instances of L1 influence in L2 production are examples of transfer. Above the text, he’s lower is an example of negative transfer.

Rangs & speaked Cannot be accounted for by reference to the learner’s L1. Both errors derive from over-applying (or overgeneralising) an L2 rule.

Developmental errors Are not dissimilar to the kinds of errors children make when they are learning their mother tongue. ex: 1. He go to sleep. 2.Are dogs can wiggle their tails? 3.Daddy broked it.

Self –correct (speaked to spoke) It hasn’t yet become automatic. if told that speaked was wrong, this suggestions that rule is both systematic and correctly formulated in the learner’s mind.

intelligibility Some errors are likely to distract or even irritate the reader or listener while others go largely unnoticed. Does the error interfere with, or distort, the speaker’s (or writer’s) message?

Attitudes to error and correction Attitude to error rum deep and lie at the heart of teachers’ intuitions about language learning. Errors as being evidence of developmental processes rather than the result of bad habit formation.

Good Attitudes to error and correction “Making mistakes is an important and positive part of learning a language. Only by experimenting with the language and receiving feedback can students begin to work out how the language works” ( from Blueprint Intermediate, Teacher’s Book by Abbs and Freebairn )

Focus on form It is necessary in order to guard against fossilisation. A focus on form includes giving learners clear messages about their errors.

Responding to Errors

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 1: “No” 1.This is a negative feedback, but it offers the student no clue as to what was wrong. 2.The learner should be able to self-correct. 3.Some other ways of signaling: A facial expression, shake of the head etc, might work just as well. 4.Some teachers try to soften the negative force of no by making a “mmmm” noise to indicate.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 2: “He has long hair” 1.This a correction in the strictest sense of the world. 2.The teacher simply repairs the student’s utterance, reminding the learner not to focus only on meaning at the expense of form.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 3: “No article” 1.The teacher’s move is directed at pinpointing the kind of error the student has made in order to prompt self-correction. 2.Peer-correction: when learners correct each other.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 4: “No. Anyone?” 1.An unambiguous feedback signal plus an invitation for peer-correction. 2.The teacher risks humiliating the original student: perhaps the teacher knows the student well enough to rule out self-correction for this error.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 5: “He has…?” 1.The teacher is replaying the student’s utterance up to the point where the error occurred. 2.This technique can be reinforced by finger-coding, where the teacher marks out each word on her fingers, indicating with her fingers the part of the phrase or sentence that needs repair.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 6: “He has a long hair?” 1.To echo the mistake but with a quizzical intonation. 2.Learners often fail to interpret this is an invitation to self-correct, and think that the teacher is simply questioning the truth of what they have just said.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 7: “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand.” 1.These are know as clarification requests and occur frequently in real conversation. 2.It is therefore a more friendly way of signaling a mistake. 3.This suggests that the policy of ‘acting a bit thick’ might have positive dividends in terms of self correction.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 8: “Just one? Like this?” 1.The teacher has pretended to interpret the student’s utterance literally, in order to show the student the unintended effect of the error. 2.This is possible only with those mistakes which do make a difference in meaning.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 9: “A long hair is just one single hair, like you find in your soup.” 1.The teacher uses the error to make an impromptu teaching point. 2.This is an example of reactive teaching, where instruction is in response to students’ errors rather than trying to pre-empt them.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 10: “Oh, he has long hair, has he?” 1.This technique (sometimes called reformulation) is an example of covert feedback, disguised as a conversational aside. 2.Some theorists argue that these expansions and reformulations help provide a temporary scaffold for the child’s developing language competence.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 11: “Good.” 1.It is a very common way that teachers provide feedback on student production, especially in activities where the focus is more on meaning than on form. 2.The intention behind good is to acknowledge the students’ contribution, irrespective of either its accuracy or even of its meaning.

Responding to errors~ He has a long hair Response 1: “Teacher says nothing but writes down error for future reference.” 1.The intention is to postpone the feedback so as not to disrupt the flow of talk, but to deal with errors later. 2.A correction in this context might be inappropriate.

Conclusions 1.Learners’ errors offer the teacher a rich source of data with which to monitor learning. 2.Learners need feedback on their production. 3.Teachers should deal with at least some of the errors that arise. 4.The choice of feedback strategy will depend on such factors as: (1)The type of error (2)The type of activity (3)The type of learner

Sample Lesson

Lesson 1

Using Learners’ Errors to Review Cohesive Devices The level for the learners is intermediate. In the class, there are mixed nationalities in Australia. Using learners’ errors as samples to highlight a feature of cohesion.

Step 1 The learners get a worksheet which consists of a number of sentences. The sentences are collected from the learners before. After getting the worksheet, learners try to correct the errors. It is a pair work. Finally learners identify one feature they all have in common.

Worksheet 1. I have no girlfriend in spite handsome boy. 2. The Little Red Riding Hood has dropped into the forest nevertheless her mother’s warning. 3. I eat chocolate everyday inspite I have to do diet. 4. I came to Australia nevertheless a lot of interesting places is in Japan. 5. I will stay at home this weekend nevertheless my boyfriend will spend his time on the beach.

Step 2 The teacher helps students pick out the problems: a)The wrong choice of tense b)The wrong choice of vocabulary

Step 3 The teacher distributes a handout (the opposite page) The teacher asks learners to study Learners return the worksheet.

Step 4 The teacher elicits corrected version of the sentences Writing the sentences on the board. Talking about the linking devices: in spite of ; nevertheless Asking learners to explain how to use the linking devices (in spite of & nevertheless)

Step 5 Students do the exercises. For example: a)We want to the beach it was a rather cold day. b)It was a rather cold day., we went to the beach. c) the cold, we went to the beach.

The Efficiency Factor It is easy to assemble learners’ errors. Authentic errors can be collected by learners.

The Appropriate Factor Students accept explicit feedback on error.

Lesson 2

Teaching Grammar through Reformulation Reformulation- The teachers takes the meanings the learners are attempting to express in English. The learners translate the meaning into an acceptable form. It is a technique to teach writing. It focus not only on words and sentences but also texts.

Step 1 The teacher introduces the theme on the newspaper picture. The picture talks about an earthquake. The teacher sits and, without giving any description. The teacher encourages students produce words, phrases, and sentences. In this step, the purpose is brainstorm for students.

Step 2 Students start running out the ideas. The teacher draws a line down the centre of the board. The teacher asks a student to write down the ideas on the board. The teacher leaves the classroom.

Step 3 The teacher returns. Reading the students’ text aloud, without commentary. Asking the question where the meaning is unclear. Reformulating this text on to the other half of the board. Correcting the errors: spelling, word choice, collocation, and morphology. Explaining the rationale underlying each change with “this is the way I would say it.”

Step 4 Students, working individually, write their own text about similar topic. Before submitting, they can compare with their peers to suggest improvements.

The Efficiency Factor Teachers don’t need to prepare any materials. All that is necessary is some stimulus.

The Appropriate Factor The reformulation of learners’ text is likely to have greater relevance to learners. But, the reformulation stage has to be handled sensitively, so that learners see it as an empowering activity.

Conclusions L1 is not the main reason to cause errors. There is not only grammar errors but also spelling, word choice, collocation, and morphology errors in the text. Except correction, positive feedback, clarification requests, and reformulation are also form of feedback teachers can use. Negative feedback may not be a bad feedback to learners. Learners’ errors offer a good model for language focus and consciousness-rising.

References Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Haolow, England: Pearson Education.