Some ways to deal with students’ errors in English teaching

【Abstract】:Language errors is an inevitable phenomenon in the foreign language learning .It is also an important part of the foreign language teaching to find , analyze and correct the students’ errors ,but how to properly identify and correct students’ errors is a complex problem. So this paper will help you find some ways to deal with students’ errors.

【Key words】: Deal with, language errors

I. Introduction:

When asked “Do you want your teachers to correct your English errors? How do you feel when they do? ” .

Some students say: “I wish my teacher would stop correcting me when I’m in the middle of trying to express my ideas, I keep forgetting what I want to say.” Others say: “my teacher never corrects my mistakes in my speaking activities, so I don’t know whether I am making any progress.”

It is true that correcting students sometimes embarrasses them and discourages them from speaking and writing. However, an equally important reason is that frequently correcting doesn’t seem to help students learn anything. No matter how many times teachers correct their errors; they seem to keep on making those same errors.

Does this mean that teachers should stop correcting students’ errors in writing and speaking? Most teachers would probably say no. In fact, students expect teachers to correct their errors and won’t be happy if they get no correcting at all, and correcting may be helpful to students if it is done in proper ways.

As to the question of exactly how teachers should correct students’ errors, there is no single correct answer. Error correction is more of an art than a science, and requires teachers to make quick judgment considering many factors such as

1. Will this hurt the student’s feelings too much?

2. Will the student understand the correction? Can the student self-correct if I just call his attention to the error, or will explanation be necessary?

3. Is this error important enough to justify calling attention to it?

4. Should I ask other students to correct it?

5. Should I deal with this now, later or never?

6. How much positive encouragement is needed along with the corrective feedback?

II. Some ways to deal with students’ errors

1. Teachers should be selective in error correction.

When teachers correct every error, it not only tends to discourage students but also doesn’t help them know which problems to focus on, therefore teachers should only correct some students’ errors, which are most important to correct.

(1). Errors that cause difficulty in communication;

(2). Errors that occur frequently in students’ speech and writing;

(3). Errors which are highly stigmatized, in other words errors which would cause people to think the student was stupid or uneducated.

Teachers should tailor their corrections to students’ needs and proficiency levels, only calling students’ attention to errors that they are capable of learning from, and correct errors in some kinds of class activities intended to build accuracy rather than in activities intended to build fluency.

2. Another important thing in error correction is involving students in correcting their own errors.

Of course, students often can’t correct their own errors without assistance from the teacher; sometimes they don’t even notice their errors unless the teacher calls attention to them. However, as we have mentioned above, if the teacher corrects the error for the student, the student doesn’t frequently learn much from the feedback. Thus, when correcting students” errors, teachers should not only call students’ attention to problems, and perhaps give students hints as to how to solve the problems, but should also make them do some of the work of correction. This increases the likelihood that students will learn from feedback given by teachers.

As we know, too much negative feedback will discourage students from trying to speak or write, but if teachers greet all utterances, sentences, including those with errors with smiles and praise, students will be encouraged to mistakenly believe that there was nothing wrong with what they said or what they wrote, so teachers need to strive for a balance between encouragement and corrective feedback that allow students to know something went wrong; encouragement and corrective feedback should be mixed together. Teachers should discern the optimal tension between positive and negative feedback; providing enough green lights to encourage continued communication but not so many that crucial errors go unnoticed, and providing enough red lights to call attention to those crucial errors , but not so many that the learner is discouraged from speaking at all.

I feel correction is at least of some use if done well. When a student is saying something, communicating with teachers or other students, teachers should not interrupt.

You can point out those crucial errors after he finishes his talking. Teachers can write the common mistake students make in homework or in compositions on the blackboard, call students’ attention to the errors and invite students participate in correction their own errors.

In this way, teachers can help students learn something from their errors, and avoid making the same errors.

【Bibliography】

[1]Corder，S．P．Error Analysis[A]The Edinburgh Course in Ap―pued Linguistic[C]J．Allen and S P．Corder，1974．

[2]Burr，M．＆C．Kiparsky， le C,ooficon：A Repair Manual for English．Rowley：Mass：Newbury House，1992．

[3] James,C.2001.语言学习和语言使用中的错误：错误分析探讨[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社.