Error Correction: For Dummies? Ellen Pratt, PhD. UPR Mayaguez

Evaluating Student Writing  Error correction (EC) is just one part of the enormous task we face when we evaluate student writing.  We must consider it as part of the totality in evaluating a student essay, which involves content, organization, vocabulary, style, and grammar.  Never make grammar the MOST important part of an essay!  Look at ESL Profile

Grammar and SLA  A student’s output in writing will show his or her level of second language acquisition.  Language acquisition takes time and as learners experiment with the language, their output will show variation.  Some grammatical structures are learned later than others and depending on their level of acquisition they may not be ready to learn them.

What are your options?  The grading machine- you read and correct just to determine a student’s grade  The instructive responder- reads the paper with genuine instructive frame of mind.  The copy editor-feels compelled to mark everything that conflicts with his/her standards. Which is the best? (Practice 1)

Error Correction  Definition: Errors consist of morphological, syntactic, and lexical deviations from the grammatical rules of a language that violate the intuitions of native speakers.  Issues of style relate to teacher’s sense that a particular word or phrase might flow more smoothly or idiomatically in the text. (Ferris and Hedgcock, 1998)

What is your purpose for error correction?  Its always been done. Students want their errors corrected.  To help students learn about the errors they make.  To justify a grade? Oh No!!!  What does the research say about this?  To date, there is still no definitive research that shows that EC leads to over all better writing performance. It does show from essay draft to essay draft that there is improvement, however.  EC is like religion…you have to have faith

What are the typical errors ESL students make? From Ferris and Roberts 2001 Verb errors VT, VF, Agr All errors in verb tense or form, including relevant subject-verb agreement errors Noun ending errors Pl, poss Plural or possessive ending incorrect, omitted, or unnecessary: includes relevant subject-verb agreement errors Article errors ART Article or other determiner incorrect, omitted, or unnecessary Wrong word WW, WF, PREP PRO All specific lexical errors in word choice or word form, including preposition and pronoun errors. Spelling errors only included if the (apparent) misspelling resulted in an actual English word Sentence structure Errors in sentence/clause boundaries (run-ons, fragments, comma splices) word order, omitted words or phrases, unnecessary words or phrases, idiomatic expressions

How many and types of errors should I correct?  Comprehensive vs. selective  List of all possible errors  Choice of the most common or the most difficult  Look for patterns of error  Do Error analysis exercise

How should teachers provide feedback?  Direct vs. indirect feedback  Direct feedback- teacher corrects all errors  Indirect- Teacher signals that an error has been made and student must try to fix it.  Highlighting error with no signal Depending on student level of acquisition you may want to combine feedback techniques 1) with basic level students, 2) when errors are untreatable, and 3) to focus attention on particular error patterns

Use of Codes, Symbols and other Cues  Direct correction… could go anywhere they want (wanted)  Error location…could go anywhere they want  Error code… could go anywhere they want vt  Error symbol… could go anywhere they want ^__  Verbal cue… could go anywhere they want tense  Sample and comment: As you revise, be sure to check your verbs to see if they need to be past or present tense. I have underlined some examples of verb tense errors in your paper so that you can see what I mean. (Ferris, 2004)

Remember what the research says  Second language acquisition takes time  Most L2 writers’ texts are observably different from those of native speakers  Even teachers’ and students best efforts at error correction do not result in 100 % accuracy.

What you can do  Give students time to do their best work  Help students take the time to think, write and revise  Teach self-editing strategies such as reading papers out loud, finding a proofreader, and looking for specific error types one at a time.  Hold students accountable for self editing.  Provide focused feedback on students’ greatest needs and focus on that until they move toward improvement  Limit in class grammar instruction and prioritize self editing. (Ferris in Reid, 2008)

References  Ferris, D Response to student writing. Lawrence Erlbaum  Ferris, D Treatment of error in second language writing. University of Michigan Press.  Ferris, D and B. Roberts Error correction in L2 writing classes: How explicit does it need to be? Journal of Second Language Writing 10:  Reid, J. (Ed.) Writing myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching. The University of Michigan Press.