Quastion: types of grammar practice from accuracy to fluency

Quastion: Correction techniques

It can be difficult to decide on what and how much to correct in a student's piece of writing. Students can develop a negative attitude towards writing because their teacher corrects all their errors or if the teacher only corrects a few, they might feel that the teacher hasn't spent sufficient time looking at their work. Evaluate the following techniques and decide which would be appropriate for your teaching situation. Underline inappropriate language in a piece of writing using a specific colour.

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  Using a different colour from above, underline examples of appropriate language.
  
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  Correct errors by writing the correct forms in their place.
  
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  Use codes in the margin to identify the type of error(s), for example, VOC = a lexical error. Students have to identify the error(s) and if possible make a correction.
  
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  Alternatively put crosses in the margin for the number of errors in each line. Students then try to identify the errors and make corrections.
  
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  Put students into pairs / groups. They correct each other's work using one or more of the techniques above.
  
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  From time to time give students an individual breakdown of recurring problems in their written work.
  

Rolf Donald, teacher and teacher trainer, Eastbourne School of English
One of the main dilemmas for teachers giving conversation groups is error correction. It’s always tricky to know when and if to correct students and how to go about it.
The danger of over-correcting is that students will lose motivation and you may even destroy the flow of the class or the activity by butting in and correcting every single mistake. The other extreme is to let the conversation flow and not to correct any mistakes. There are times when this is appropriate but most students do want to have some of their mistakes corrected as it gives them a basis for improvement.
So, the question is; When and how should you correct your students?
Every teacher will have different views on this and different ways of correcting their students and it’s a case of finding out what both you and your students feel comfortable with. I would like to offer several ideas of how to go about it.

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