LCB-TTC – Taller didáctico

Teacher: Gladys Baya

Student: María Pérez Armendáriz

Observation
Managing Error1
Date: October 16, 2008.
No. of students: 12.
Age: ± 16.
Level: Intermediate.
Book: Challenges 3, Longman Pearson.

Background
If teachers corrected every language error made in their class, far too much classroom time would
be given over to correction. This has negative implications in that it might reduce learner
willingness to make risks and experiment.
Teachers necessarily differentiate between errors that require immediate attention and errors that
are better ignored or treated in another way or at another time. This is one of the many choices a
teacher makes in regard to learner error.

Observation notes

Lesson Acc. /
Learner error Teacher response
phase Flcy.
"... organizated by the Interrupted softly saying "organized by the
1 Warm-up Fluency
school." school?"
"The boss asked she to Explained the rule for the correction and Review
2 Accuracy
come earlier." the student repeated the sentence correctly. activity
"I said that is my room
Practice
3 and I can do whatever I Did not correct. Fluency
activity
want."
When the dialogue was over, she asked
what was wrong with the sentence to the Practice
4 "How many time?" Fluency
whole class. They volunteered the correct activity
answer.
At the end of the dialogue, the teacher
"My art education is a pointed out the mistake and provided
Practice
5 bad man. He bothered correct and easier version: "my art teacher". Fluency
activity
me to do more." T did not correct "bothered" for "told" or
"warned".
Immediately provided the English word Pre-
"The girl was
6 ('trapped'). The student repeated the word listening Fluency
atrapada..."
and continued with what she was saying. activity

1
Topic taken from Classroom Observation Tasks, Ruth Wajnryb, (CUP, 1992).

LCB-TTC – Taller Didáctico – Observation 8 – María Pérez Armendáriz 1

 When the student finished the sentence, the
"To could saved T said "Can you say 'to could' + the past?" Checking
7 Accuracy
Benson." The student thinks for a moment and activity
rephrases the sentence correctly.
Teacher says "He admires her. He looks up Checking
8 "He's admired." Accuracy
to her." activity
Interrupts speech but at the end of the
"All the apartment get sentence she says "You're talking about the Sts share
9 Fluency
on fire." past." Student corrects the sentence and anecdotes
continues.
Vocab
"Repently." [meant as T just said "no" and asked for another activity /
10 Accuracy
synonym for 'suddenly'] answer from a volunteer. checking
meaning

Analysis
1. Did you observe any pattern in the teacher's way of responding to learner error?
I could not see any particular pattern. On most cases, she seemed to adjust the moment of correction
to the kind of activity. For example, in an activity where students had to improvise a dialogue, she
took notes and at the end of the dialogue gave positive feedback as well as error correction. At a
different kind of activity focused on accuracy, although she interrupted speech, she waited until a
pause and pointed out that something was wrong and how to correct it.

2. Looking over the instances you collected, is it possible to distinguish among them, or
perhaps rank them in order of importance? Which were very important to correct and which
perhaps might have been overlooked?
I think that the order of importance will depend on the focus of the activity. If the focus is on the
accurate production of a specific form, then it should be prioritized. Some errors made during a
fluency focused activity can be overlooked, or as this teacher did, made to notice once the speech is
over. Errors made during an activity which was meant to be practice a specific topic/ structure are
more important than correction of errors about something they don't know, or is not as relevant for
the message and the type of activity. For example, instance five could have been overlooked.

3. How did other students respond to a student's error and (were relevant) to the teacher's
response? Was there any peer correction, or peer interaction or discussion of the error? If so,
what did the teacher say or do to encourage this?
There were not many instances where the students participated in the correction of errors made
by a particular student. Only once or twice did the teacher asked the rest of the class to take part in
the correction of an error; but at that they only provided the correct version and nothing else was
done. Usually, she addressed the student that made the mistake and asked them to try to correct it.

4. Were there any opportunities for the students self-correct? If so, do you recall anything the
teacher said or did to encourage self-correction?
Most of the times, the teacher addressed the student that had made the mistake and tried to make
them think about what was wrong and correct the sentence. She did not immediately interrupt the
student to correct them. She allowed them to finish the sentence (sometimes a whole speech,
depending on the focus of the activity) and if the student did not notice the mistake, she/he was then
interrupted to think back on what was just said.

5. Was there a link between the amount of error correction and the focus of the phase of the
lesson?

LCB-TTC – Taller Didáctico – Observation 8 – María Pérez Armendáriz 2

 Most immediate corrections were done during an accuracy focused activity, where students were
expected to produce a specific structure correctly. During the fluency activities, some errors were
overlooked and only some relevant errors were made to notice.

6. When the focus of the lesson is on fluency there may be ways in which a teacher can avoid
interrupting the flow of the students' language. Is error correction necessary at such times in
a lesson? Is it possible to correct in a non-obtrusive way?
I think that the best way to do it is by taking down some notes of the errors that were made
during the activity, but only those that the activity was meant to practice and others that may need
some more work (for example, simple past of irregular verbs). The teacher should always try to
make note of what the student has done correctly. Positive feedback will soften the blow of
corrections and give the student a sense that he is doing things well despite the mistakes.

7. Was there any evidence in the lesson of students processing information? For example, in
committing an error, having it pointed out, hearing the correct version and try it out, a
learner might simply be echoing what they think is required of them, or they might be
processing, that is, adjusting existing notions or hypothesis about language to accommodate
newly received information.
I think this may have been evident by the fact that the teacher rarely provided the correct answer.
She pointed out that something was wrong, either with the tense or the structure, but the students
were left to do the correction. I think this means that at least they had to think over what they
wanted to say accommodating it to the language they already know.

8. Focus on the teacher's language in response to an error. Were there any occasions when the
teacher responded to the error without attending to the student's intended meaning, that is,
attended exclusively to the form of the language?
What effect did this have: on the student? on other students? on the lesson?
I don't think this happened. The teacher kept in mind the message as well as the mistake. For
example, in instance 8, the teacher corrects the student and provides a paraphrase to see if that is
what she meant. This had a positive effect since they noticed that she considered the meaning and
their effort at saying everything correctly.

Reflection
What experience do you have of being corrected when speaking a second or foreign
language? Do you think this has influenced you teaching?
Much, if not all, of what a teacher says and does in the classroom is a reflection of that
teacher's belief (conscious or otherwise) about how people learn languages. Considering you
own style of managing error, how does this reflect your underlying beliefs?
As a second language student, I spoke very little and when I did, the teacher corrected everything,
even the pronunciation of some uncommon words. She spotted mistakes and did not congratulate us
for a job well done. This may have been because the group as a whole was less than average. I
know I don't want to be that kind of teacher, and I hope that in the attempt of distancing myself from
this image, I don't end up loosing sight of the point of correcting students. In the past four years I've
learned a few things about this subject; I have tried to make mental notes of what I have seen that I
consider worth trying and what I think I should steer clear of. I hope my notes are correct.

LCB-TTC – Taller Didáctico – Observation 8 – María Pérez Armendáriz 3