Hello. Today I want to talk about error correction.
Error correction is a controversial topic. Many people have strong feelings about it.
Credit: www.flickr.com/photos/dylaphant07/
Most English teachers believe that error correction is necessary. In fact, they think it’s vital. Many students who have been trained by these kinds of schools and teachers also believe they need to have their speaking and pronunciation errors constantly corrected.
My students get a little confused when I tell them, “I will never correct your speaking errors.”
Some people get upset when I say that. Some English teachers get upset. They feel I’m committing a sin, a heresy in English education!
Some students get upset too. They beg me, “A.J., please correct my speaking errors.” I always say no.
Traditional English classes obviously love error correction. When a student speaks, the teacher focuses, directly or indirectly, on their mistakes. For example, a student stands up and says, “Yesterday I had good time. I go to store and go shopping.”
At that moment, the student feels nervous because the whole class and the teacher are listening. But she’s also happy because she’s speaking English. She’s clearly communicating information in English.
But the teacher soon destroys her happiness. If the teacher is good, they’ll say, “OK. Yesterday you had A good time. You WENT to THE store and WENT shopping.”
If the teacher isn’t good, they’ll say, “No. You need to say A good time … and you didn’t use the verbs in the past tense. You’re talking about Yesterday. What’s the past tense of go?”
Either way, the student now feels foolish and stupid. She thinks, “English is so difficult … I’ll never be good at English.” Her motivation is destroyed.
But it gets worse, because error correction is COMPLETELY ineffective. There are many, many studies on correction of spoken English errors. For example, students were divided into two groups. Group 1 had their mistakes constantly corrected for three months, six months, or a year. Group 2 never had their speaking errors corrected.
After several months or years, both groups were tested. Surprisingly, the researchers found absolutely no difference in the groups’ accuracy or errors in speaking. Each group still made the same number and type of mistakes.
Correcting speaking errors is a waste of time … and it hurts the student. Error correction harms speaking speed and fluency. Every time a speaking error is corrected, the student stops, thinks, and analyzes English grammar.
Over time, their speech gets slower and slower. They think carefully and slowly about everything they’re going to say. They’re paralyzed by the fear of making mistakes.
If you have a tutor, NEVER ask them to correct your speaking errors. Instead, to improve your English, focus on listening. The more correct English you hear from native speakers, the more you’ll automatically correct your own mistakes.
Your speech becomes more accurate and faster, and it happens effortlessly and automatically.
So forget about error correction. Don’t focus on the negative. Don’t focus on mistakes.
###Focus on the positive. Concentrate on listening to lots of English from native speakers. And when you speak … just relax and talk. Focus on communicating ideas, not on perfect grammar. Over time, your grammar will improve automatically.
Good luck!
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Original article: http://effortlessenglishclub.com/english-students-%E2%80%9Cyou%E2%80%99re-not-stupid%E2%80%9D