Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Edition

Errors, Correction and Remedial Work
142
class is busy with some other work. Alternatively, there is
scope for individualised work. Work cards can be made on
different grammatical topics and lexical sets. Exercises can be
set from standard textbooks, or from a series such as English
Language Units (Longman), which deals with major points of
grammar. These units have an accompanying tape which can
be used on the classroom taperecorder with earphones, or in
the language laboratory. An extensive tape library is very
valuable for individual remedial work.
When dealing with the errors of the whole class, it is
generally best to present the remedial point to a class as a part
of the normal teaching plan, almost as though it were a new
item and not something that has been taught unsuccessfully
once. It would be integrated into the syllabus, and hardly
remarked upon if the class were used to the ‘spiral’ approach
mentioned earlier. In this case, however, it is vital to be
different and varied in the re-presentation of the material.
Classes quickly get bored. Variety is equally important in the
practice and production stages.
Freshness of approach and variety are especially important
when dealing with the ‘Remedial Class’ in the narrow sense.
Remedial classes are formed when the standard of a minority
of students in the regular classes is so far removed from that of
the majority that it seems better to create a class especially for
their particular needs. Failed students in an examination—the
Cambridge First Certificate, for example—are often put in a
group apart from the normal courses to prepare them for the
re-sit. Motivation is the key to remedial groups like these, and
this is largely dependent on the sensitive handling of the
teacher. One very useful technique is to change totally the
whole approach. Rather than go back over the same book in
the same way and hope that a double dose of the same
medicine will cure the problem, it is advisable at the very least
to use a different textbook.
Better still is to choose a course written on entirely different
principles. When a remedial class has failed at a structural
course in which grammatical criteria are paramount in
ordering the material for presentation, they will accept a
reworking of familiar material if it is organised in a non-
structural way. A notional syllabus looks first at the uses to
which language is put in communication, and attempts to

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Errors, Correction and Remedial Work
143
isolate different semantic notions—how to persuade people to
do things, how to express intentions, how to complain and so
forth. These notions may be expressed in simple language or
complex grammatical patterns, but linguistic factors of this
type are of secondary importance. A quite different type of
course like this is useful for remedial classes because of its
novelty and because its functional goals are readily identified
and achieved. In a notional course, particularly when used for
remedial classes, there is no long slow build-up to establish a
necessary grammatical base before any meaningful
communication is possible, and notional teaching makes for
strong motivation with its emphasis on communication in
practical situations. Such visible signs of success are very
valuable to motivate the remedial student. Members of
remedial classes are very sensitive to failure, for obvious
reasons. An understanding of this is an essential quality in
their teacher, since a dismissive, condemnatory attitude will
only have very negative results. Patience is another virtue
greatly needed, since one’s best efforts often seem to produce
nothing but the same errors yet once more. Progress is often
slow. There are cases where it is almost non-existent, since
some people are endowed with a great desire and willingness
to learn English, but apparently limited ability to do so. It is
also possible that people may have a natural languagelearning
ceiling beyond which they cannot go. It is best for the teacher
gently but firmly to discourage them from continuing—yet
another delicate task for the remedial teacher to perform! The
demands are great on teachers concerned with error
correction, but there are compensatory rewards in seeing one’s
charges grasp a point at last which seemed totally beyond
them or in receiving their evident gratitude for one’s efforts. It
is all part of the job’s satisfaction.