Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Edition

Errors, Correction and Remedial Work
140
goal of practising fluent and confident delivery. In this case it
would be much better to make a note of all errors (phonetic,
grammatical and lexical) and deal with them at the end. Too
many mistakes might suggest that it was the wrong task in
the first place, for no exercise should be so difficult that it
produces more incorrect than correct utterances.
But apart from this, the teacher must decide first the
gravity of the errors committed in relation to the particular
aim in view, as mentioned earlier, then whether to deal with
the most important immediately or later. Immediate
feedback is extremely valuable to a student. This often
follows the pattern of the teacher pointing out the mistake,
explaining what is wrong, and attempting on the spot to give
some extra practice. There is nothing wrong with
explanations of mistakes, particularly with adults, but it is
much more effective when followed by extra practice. As this
is not always easy to provide on the spur of the moment,
another strategy is to postpone some items to another date
and, after adequate preparation, make a teaching point of
them in another lesson.
Immediate feedback is possible with regard to written as
well as oral work, for this is exactly what the teacher
provides as he moves round the class supervising his pupils’
work in the written stages of the lesson. A more integrated
approach comes when the class’s books or papers are
collected in by the teacher. As mentioned before, it is always
best to avoid seas of red ink over the page, perhaps by means
of a technique found successful by many teachers over the
years. Instead of simply writing in the correct version and
telling the student to think about it, an alternative is to put
single code letters in the margin (a simple and self-evident
code is essential: T—tense mistake; P—preposition mistake;
V—vocabulary (word) mistake; etc.). This procedure has the
advantage of much reducing the red ink, and forcing the
student to think out the error himself and provide his own
corrected version. The teacher can incorporate the main,
general mistakes in his next teaching lesson, and work
towards a ‘fair copy’ version with the whole class for
comparison with their own efforts.
It is by no means necessary or advisable, however, that all
the correction should come from the teacher. In written or

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Errors, Correction and Remedial Work
141
oral work, students should be responsible in the first instance
for their own mistakes. Written work must always be read
through and carefully checked before handing in. In the case
mentioned above, immediately after a two minute
impromptu talk the student himself can say what he feels he
has said wrong. This is very good for developing an
awareness of one’s own errors, and the faculty for self-
criticism is a useful one to have in later years when one no
longer attends English classes.
Correction might also come from another source apart
from the student himself and the teacher. The other members
of the group can correct both written and oral work. It is
possible, for instance, for the better students to work with the
weaker ones in pairs, and for them to suggest improvements
and corrections. Group work provides another alternative—
many groups will willingly discuss the members’ written work
and suggest better phrasing and different structures where
appropriate. The teacher can go round checking, or be called
in where there is doubt in the group. In oral work, a class can
be trained to listen closely for mistakes in a talk, and should
be given the chance to discuss them with the speaker and
teacher afterwards. This produces a discriminating ear, and
has the added advantage of making everyone listen closely if
they may soon be called on to analyse the errors! Using other
members of the group obviously has to be handled sensitively
by the teacher, as an aggressive and critical spirit in any
member of the class can be very damaging.
It has been assumed so far that the teacher himself will deal
with an individual’s errors with the whole group listening in.
As a general principle it is best to avoid this where the error is
not common to a sizeable proportion of those present. It
quickly leads to boredom in the rest when the teacher goes on
at length about the mistakes which just one person has
committed, with the whole group sitting idly by. Individual
correction is therefore necessary, but this is obviously very
difficult in most teaching situations where a class may
number thirty or forty students. It may be necessary on
occasions, however, when the pupil himself needs personal
attention and explanation, or when one person has not
grasped a point and the rest of the class has moved on. In
these circumstances, this can be done whilst the rest of the

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